iPhone 18 Pro sales rise 3.1% globally as China surges 29% while the U.S. and Japan decline, Counterpoint says

Apple's iPhone 18 Pro lineup is off to an uneven start, with strong demand in China masking weaker sales in the United States and Japan, according to new data from Counterpoint Research, as reported by MacRumors.

Counterpoint tracked the first three weeks of availability for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max and compared them with the same launch window last year. Combined global sales for the two models rose 3.1 percent. That modest gain hides a wide gap between regions.

China leads the way

Sales in China climbed 29 percent, which the report describes as doing much of the heavy lifting for the launch. Counterpoint points to two main factors: better initial supply of the new phones, and higher prices for competing Android flagships.

U.S. and Japan fall back

In the United States, sales slipped 4 percent. Counterpoint says buyers felt the features and design had changed too little compared with the previous generation, even with additions such as a variable aperture camera. Apple also raised U.S. starting prices by $100, so the iPhone 18 Pro now starts at $1,199 and the Pro Max at $1,299.

Japan saw the sharpest decline, down 27 percent. The firm says currency exchange rates compounded the effect of the price increases there.

Model mix shifts slightly

The larger Pro Max accounted for 56 percent of sales in the tracking period, down from 57 percent a year earlier. Counterpoint notes that growth in India and Southeast Asia favored the smaller Pro model.

What the data does not cover

The tracking window closed before the iPhone Duo went on sale on October 23, so the figures do not show any effect from Apple's foldable. Counterpoint says it will be watching whether the Duo attracts new buyers or instead pulls customers away from the Pro Max.

These are third-party estimates rather than numbers from Apple, which does not publish unit sales for individual iPhone models. The company is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on November 2, when it may offer more context on how the new lineup is performing.