New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS): Apple has sold nearly 18 million iPhone 12 units in the China market in Q4 2020, gaining over 20 per cent market share and exceeding market expectations.

According to a report in DigiTimes citing local data, sales of the iPhone 12 series in China were higher than expected in the fourth quarter of 2020.

"The staggering fourth-quarter iPhone 12 shipments helped push Apple's share in China's handset segment to over 20 per cent in fourth-quarter 2020 and reduced the combined share of Chinese brands to about 78 per cent, said the sources, citing market data," the report mentioned.

The momentum is expected to continue through the Lunar New Year holiday, bringing shipment volumes for Q1 2021 at par with units shipped in the previous quarter.

Citing the trajectory of iPhone 12 sales, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives this month raised his Apple price target from $150 to $160 and sets a Street-high bull case of $200.

"We have not seen a launch uptrend such as this in a number of years for Apple and the only iPhone trajectory similar would be the iPhone 6 in 2014 based on our analysis," Ives said.

"Based on lead times on the Apple website as well as our checks, we believe pre-orders tracked more than 2x its predecessor iPhone 11 thus far and is a robust start out of the gates for Cupertino on this flagship supercycle product".

According to Seeking Alpha, the analyst said that while Wall Street is forecasting 215 million iPhone units for the financial year 2021, he sees the potential to sell over 240 million units.

A Counterpoint Research report late last month said that Apple is likely to break previous sales records during its fiscal first quarter (October-December period) as the iPhone 12 is set to bolster global quarterly shipment growth for all iPhones to 21 per cent year-over-year (YoY).

JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee also said that iPhone 12 series lead times have "moderated significantly" since the holidays with most models available for consumers within a week.