Apple's China Launch Momentum Collides With a $5.7 Billion Patent Verdict

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max sold about 1.3 million units in China in their first week, up 15%, while Apple contests a $5.7 billion US patent verdict.

Apple's newest flagship lineup is off to a flying start in China, but a sprawling legal battle in the United States is casting a long shadow over the company's otherwise upbeat product cycle.

Retail tracking data from RD Observation indicates that roughly 1.3 million units of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max were sold in China during the first seven days following the September 18 launch. That marks an increase of about 15 percent compared with the prior generation over the same window. Demand skewed heavily toward the pricier variant: approximately 55.5 percent of first-week purchases went to the Pro Max, a pattern that had already emerged during the pre-order phase, when buyers gravitated toward the higher-spec configurations.

Apple does not disclose weekly sales figures by country or model, so the Chinese data carry outsized weight as a sentiment gauge. The Asian market ranks among the most fiercely contested battlegrounds for premium smartphones, making early momentum there a closely watched signal for the technology giant.

Supply Chain Plans Point Higher

Manufacturing forecasts offer additional encouragement. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate planned production of the Pro devices at 71 million units for the second half of 2026, an 18 percent jump from the 60 million recorded in the year-earlier period. Not everyone shares the optimism, though — GF Securities characterized the US home-market debut as relatively subdued heading into launch.

A Record-Setting Jury Award

Offsetting the product momentum is a bruising courtroom defeat. A jury in San Diego awarded Taction Technology more than $5.7 billion in damages, finding that Apple infringed patents covering haptic vibration technology used in the Taptic Engine of its smartphones and smartwatches. Apple has rejected the infringement claim outright, pointing to fundamental technical differences between the systems, and has pledged to pursue legal remedies through an appeal. While the jury stopped short of finding willful misconduct, the sum ranks among the largest verdicts ever handed down in US patent litigation.

The ruling landed on a Saturday, and investors responded cautiously once trading resumed. The stock slipped 0.6 percent in the following session to close at EUR 297.60. More recently, the shares have been changing hands at EUR 296.95, a touch weaker on the day, yet still only 1.6 percent below their 52-week high of EUR 301.80.

A Crowded Docket Across Three Continents

The Taction case is hardly an isolated headache. Apple's legal department is juggling proceedings in multiple jurisdictions at once. In its long-running dispute with Epic Games, the company received backing from the US Department of Justice, which according to Reuters endorsed core elements of Apple's arguments in its Supreme Court appeal concerning a previously imposed contempt sanction.

Across the Atlantic, the company is contesting a British government demand for backdoor access to customer data before a UK tribunal, arguing that such an intrusion would undermine device security. Labor tensions flared as well: walkouts by retail staff in Italy accompanied the iPhone 18 Pro's September 18 debut, with employees pressing for improved working conditions.

Locking Down the Basics

On the strategic front, Apple moved to reduce risk in one of its most critical supply relationships. Qualcomm announced on Thursday that Apple has extended their existing patent licensing agreement. The current contract runs through March 31, 2027, and already included an option to prolong it by two additional years; Qualcomm declined to specify the length of the newly agreed extension. The deal gives Apple planning certainty around essential cellular technologies — a useful anchor as it prepares its appeal in the multibillion-dollar haptic feedback case.

For now, investors appear to be weighing a strong start for Apple's high-margin device family against a legal liability that has yet to be finalized.