Day one iPhone 13 pre-orders exceed 5 million units in China

The initial iPhone 13 sales numbers for China were positive, but the latest report reveals that demand is even higher than originally reported. So high, in fact, that some websites struggled to remain online.

Chinese customers are loving the iPhone 13 line

Chinese consumers ordered over five million iPhone 13 units on Friday; the day Apple started taking orders, according to the China South Morning Post. That number applies to third-party websites only, meaning orders through Apple’s own website aren’t included in the total.

Launch demand was so high that Apple’s official website crashed, something that subsequently became a trending topic on social media platform Weibo — think of it like China’s version of Facebook and Twitter.

While Apple hasn’t commented on iPhone 13 launch demand, in China the company’s launch day stock sold out on the first day of availability. Anyone looking to pre-order the new devices on Saturday faced waiting until October.

A similar thing happened in the US and UK, where iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max sold out within a matter of hours. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini faced fewer delays, which may be a combination of weaker demand and more stock.

The higher launch interest Apple is seeing isn’t unexpected, however. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects iPhone shipments to increase over 15% year-on-year next year thanks to strong iPhone 13 momentum.

Kuo also noted recently that customers are more interested than ever in the Pro-branded models. The analyst expects Apple’s flagship models to make up between 45-50% of all shipment volume, compared to 35-40% last year.

As for the Chinese market, Counterpoint Research believes Apple’s shipments could be almost 60% higher in the fourth quarter than the third thanks to a lack of competition from Huawei and other Chinese brands.