Last week Patently Apple posted a report titled "Sales of iPhone's Erupt in Mainland China in January with Astounding Growth that's Spilling into February." According to Evercore Research Institute, the latest data for iPhone sales in China for January grew an astounding 158%. More importantly, Analyst Amit Daryanni noted that February iPhone sales thus far appear to be maintaining strong growth."   

The strength of Apple's 5G iPhone 12 in China is expected to continue for calendar Q1 2021 (Apple's fiscal Q2). For Apple, 2021 could be an exceptional year. Beyond the iPhone 12 and new products being released throughout the year, a report by Nikkei Asia points out that Huawei's woes are due to U.S. sanctions and of course this could benefit Apple.

The Nikkei Asia reports that Huawei has told suppliers that its orders for smartphone components could drop by more than 60 per cent this year as it continues to struggle under harsh US sanctions.

The Chinese telecoms equipment and handset giant said it intends to procure parts for between 70 million to 80 million smartphones in 2021, the Nikkei reported. This marks a dramatic decline from the 189 million smartphones that Huawei shipped last year, according to figures from market research firm IDC.

Huawei’s orders have consisted solely of components for 4G smartphones since US restrictions have prevented the company from buying components for 5G devices. Some suppliers reportedly anticipated the final orders to fall further to around 50 million units.

Canalys vice-president of mobility Nicole Peng stated for the report that "Should the Biden administration not end US sanctions on Huawei in 2021, we expect Huawei to focus on niche categories such as luxury phones."

Peng added that "Huawei is not going to stop investing in Huawei Mobile Services. So in turn, they will not stop investing in research and development of hardware to keep up with the new system."

Keep in mind that Huawei's fortunes could change dramatically should U.S. President Biden drop or ease the sanctions on Huawei later this year.