San Francisco, Jun 24 (IANS): After an initial rebound, the iPhone sales plummeted in China in May as Apple reopened retails stores in the country after the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to CNBC, Apple sold 3.6 million iPhones in China in May, down from 3.9 million in April.

That's a 7.7 per cent fall versus April, according to Shanghai-based CINNO Research, the report said on Tuesday.

However, spending on App Store and other Services grew in May for Apple.

In April, Apple reported 71 per cent revenue growth in China during the preceding quarter.

With this, China overtook Europe to become Apple's second largest market only to the US.

The company also reported quarterly sales of the iPhone in China at 61 million units in the March quarter, exceeding sales in the US.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in May that China would be Apple's largest market within two years and that the number of Apple stores in China would almost double to 40 within that time frame.

Chine smartphone market underwent its highest decline in the January-March period due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic and Huawei was the only smartphone player that achieved positive growth (year-on-year).

Smartphone sales in China fell by 22 per cent (YoY) and 24 per cent (quarter-on-quarter) in Q1 2020, according to Counterpoint Research.

Apple and Huawei managed to increase market share from the same period last year, clearly out-performing the overall market in Q1 2020.