Apple (AAPL) chairman Tim Cook said on Thursday, October 15, that a test version of Apple Intelligence will reach users in China later this month, Reuters reported. He said it in an interview with state-backed outlet The Paper in Shanghai. The China version brings live translation, writing tools and image clean-up, built with support from Alibaba (BABA). The upgraded Siri isn’t included.
The approval itself isn’t new. China’s cyberspace regulator cleared Apple’s generative AI on July 15, and Apple said on its July 30 earnings call that the rollout had started. What Thursday adds is a date.
Apple Spent Two Years Without AI in China
Apple began launching Apple Intelligence features in other markets in 2024. iPhone buyers in China went without them while local rivals built their own. Apple was cleared on the same July list as new AI offerings from Huawei and Xiaomi (1810). The bull case is simple: AI closes a feature gap and gives Chinese buyers one less reason to switch.
China Was Already Growing Without It
Apple’s Greater China revenue jumped 38% from a year earlier to $25.53 billion in the December 2025 quarter. It then rose 28% to $20.50 billion in March and 22% to $18.82 billion in June. That’s three straight quarters of growing faster than Apple overall, which grew about 16% to 17%.
The driver was hardware. In its first 10 days, the base iPhone 17 nearly doubled the iPhone 16’s China unit sales. Over the last four quarters, China made up about 17% of Apple’s revenue, or $79.34 billion of $466.83 billion. A year earlier it was about 16%.
The Catch Is the Slowdown
Greater China’s year-over-year revenue growth slowed from 38% in the December quarter to 28% in March and 22% in June, although iPhone sales remained the main driver of growth. That’s where AI could help: as something new to sell in the next phase, not as the reason China recovered.
Without the upgraded Siri, China is getting features already available elsewhere, including tools introduced in 2024 and Live Translation, which arrived in 2025. They’re useful. They aren’t an obvious reason to upgrade.
The Apple Number to Watch After November 2
Apple reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on Monday, November 2. That quarter ended before the test version arrived. It also compares against $14.49 billion, the weakest China figure of the past three years, so it says little about AI.
The December quarter is the real test. China has to grow against $25.53 billion, last year’s 38% jump, with AI available through the holidays. Growth would show that Apple sustained its China recovery after the AI rollout, but revenue alone won’t isolate AI’s contribution. A decline would raise questions about that recovery without proving the iPhone 17 was its only driver.
You can track Apple’s Greater China revenue quarter by quarter, and set it against total sales the way the charts above do, on TIKR for free. Learn more here.
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