iPhone 18 Pro duo sells 1.3M in China, stronger than 17

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max sold about 1.3 million units in China during their first week of availability, according to blogger RD Observation, roughly 15 percent more than the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max sold in their first week.

Sales momentum and pre-orders

Retailers reported that stock of the iPhone 18 Pro series ran out quickly during the pre-order period, with estimates putting pre-orders at around 7 million units. Some individual stores saw roughly double the revenue compared with the launch of the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max a year earlier, the figures indicate.

The early-sales performance of the two Pro models also represented about 90 percent of what the entire iPhone 2025 lineup sold in China during its first week, the report says. The absence this year of a new vanilla iPhone and a new iPhone Air model has not, on these numbers, reduced demand for Apple devices in China.

Model mix and pricing moves

Among the two Pro models, the iPhone 18 Pro Max accounted for 55.5 percent of the initial sales, a reversal of the pre-order split, when about 60 percent of shoppers chose the smaller iPhone 18 Pro. Apple raised prices across the new models: the 256GB and 512GB options increased by CNY 1,000 (about $150), while the 1TB and 2TB configurations rose by CNY 2,500 and CNY 3,500 respectively, the coverage notes, adding that this came despite Apple reportedly using slower QLC chips for storage.

Price-tracking data compiled by BigGo shows regional differences. In China the 256GB model’s price rose by about 11 percent. In the United States the $100 increase for the same capacity equates to roughly a 9 percent rise. In Japan the 256GB iPhone 18 Pro is JPY 40,000 more expensive, an increase of about 22 percent; Apple had previously raised the iPhone 17 Pro’s price from the original JPY 179,800 to JPY 194,800, while the iPhone 18 Pro launched at JPY 219,800, meaning the new model is more than JPY 20,000 costlier than the revised 17 Pro price.