The biggest reason why Apple is making a comeback in China with iPhone 17

After hit with a three-year sales slump, Apple is able to successfully reverse its fortunes in the world’s most competitive smartphone market, China. The primary reason for this turnaround is the redesign of the iPhone 17 – specifically a viral “Cosmic Orange” colourway that has recaptured the attention of the country’s consumers.

According to a report by The Financial Times, the surge in demand drove a record-breaking fourth quarter for Apple in China, with revenue jumping 38% year-on-year to $26 billion.

Not ‘Cosmic Orange’, Chinese are calling it ‘Hermès Orange’

Apple officially markets the new high-end colour as “Cosmic Orange”, however, Chinese social media users have dubbed it “Hermès Orange”. Analysts suggest that after years of subtle design iterations, the iPhone 17’s distinctive new look provides the “social currency” that Chinese buyers demand. “It sounds simple, but external, obvious changes to design pulled out early upgraders. The colour makes the handset immediately recognizable as the newest model," Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, was quoted as saying.The report also says that the orange colour also has benefited from a lucky coincidence. In Mandarin, the word for “orange” (chéng) sounds similar to the word for “success” (chéng), sparking a wave of viral wordplay online, with buyers posting captions like: “May all your wishes turn orange; may success come at once.”

The colour is not the only reason why people in China are flocking to buy the new iPhone 17, it is also upgraded hardware in departments like camera, chipset and battery that have pushed iPhone buyers to prioritise the iPhone 17’s physical “supercycle" over AI software, triggering a mass replacement cycle.Additionally, Apple is also benefiting from China’s broader efforts to stimulate the economy. The base iPhone 17 model qualifies for government subsidies of up to Rmb500 ($72) for smartphones priced below Rmb6,000, making the entry-level device more accessible to the middle class.