By Sherry Qin


Apple's Chinese smartphone-component suppliers broadly advanced in Friday trading after the U.S. company said iPhone demand in China was strong, despite overall sales declining for that market.

Sunny Optical Technology, a camera-lens maker for iPhones, rose 5.6% to 69.10 Hong Kong dollars (US$8.83). AAC Technologies, a maker of smartphone acoustic components, gained 8.2% to HK$15.64. Luxshare Precision Industry, which produced three iPhone 15 models, rose 1.9% to 32.13 yuan (US$4.39).

Apple on Thursday reported results for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, with sales coming in at $89.50 billion. Revenue from iPhones was $43.81 billion, compared with $42.63 billion in the year-earlier period.

Morningstar analysts said iPhone sales for the period was a good sign that demand for the iPhone 15 series will be resilient this year, despite shaky macroeconomic conditions.

Apple's overall sales in China fell 2.5% from a year earlier, but Chief Executive Tim Cook blamed that decline on poor MacBook and iPad sales.

"In mainland China, we set a quarterly record for the September quarter for iPhone," Cook told Reuters in an interview. "We had four out of the top five best-selling smartphones in urban China."

Softer MacBook and iPad sales in China mask the underlying growth that analysts are truly focused on, which is robust iPhone demand in the country, Wedbush analysts said in a research note.

Still, Apple faces challenges on multiple fronts in China. Rival Huawei Technologies recently made a surprise comeback with its new 5G smartphone model that uses advanced, made-in-China chips after U.S. sanctions cut the Chinese company off from critical chips in the last few years.

Also, China has instructed officials at some central government agencies and state-owned companies not to use iPhones at work or use them for business purposes, The Wall Street Journal reported in September.


Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-03-23 0240ET