Apple share price jumps 7% on tariff exemption, iPhone shipments up 10% in Q1 to clinch top spot globally

Apple's share price jumped seven per cent after Wall Street's opening bell on Monday, April 15, after US President Donald Trump exempted consumer electronics, such as smartphones, laptops, computers, hard drives, others, from the sweeping reciprocal tariffs imposed across nations worldwide.

Trump has paused reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners except China for 90 days. Apple's share price drove higher after it announced that its iPhone unit shipments surged nearly 10 per cent in the first quarter, part of an effort to accelerate deliveries and avoid expected tariffs on China.

Apple took the top spot for global smartphone sales in the first quarter on the back of the iPhone 16e's launch and strong demand in countries such as Japan and India, data from Counterpoint Research showed on Monday.

Apple sales, shipments surge in Q1

According to industry tracker IDC, Apple shipped 57.9 million units from the beginning of January through March, a rise from the 52.6 million units it delivered in the same period a year ago. The uptick is not necessarily because of a sudden gain in demand: IDC says the increase is due to a stockpiling effort meant to offset tariffs on goods exported from China to the US.

According to Counterpoint, Apple had 19 per cent of the smartphone market despite flat sales in the US, Europe, and China. Samsung followed with 18 per cent of the market. The data suggests that the demand for the iPhone remains strong in emerging markets, even as sales struggle in China over competition from local players such as Huawei and a lack of AI features.

Separately, International Data Corporation (IDC), which primarily tracks shipments rather than sales to consumers, said global smartphone shipments rose 1.5 per cent in the first quarter. Apple front-loaded supply to sidestep potential tariffs under US President Donald Trump.

Trump's back-and-forth tariffs and escalation of global trade tensions have resulted in global financial market turmoil for the past two weeks, a worsening economic outlook and the possibility of stronger inflation.

Apple had chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the US from India to beat the tariffs. However, Trump's decision to exclude smartphones, computers and other electronics from the sweeping reciprocal duties on China led to a rise in global tech shares today.

Apple share price

On Monday, Apple shares rose seven per cent to a high of $212.94 before paring gains to trade up 4.5 per cent at $206.05, after the Trump administration, granted exclusions from the steep reciprocal tariffs on smartphones and a set of other electronics products, a move seen as a big break for technology firms such as Apple that rely on imports from China.

Apple's shares were last up around 3.5 per cent on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. The jump in Apple's share price means a bullish options trade opened Friday for about $5 million was, on paper, valued at about $14 million early on Monday, a gain of 180 per cent, according to a Reuters calculation.

Apple shares tumbled as much as 23 per cent in the days following the tariff announcement amid a market-wide selloff as investors fretted over the business impact of the tariffs on China, a major production hub for iPhones. The shares recovered late last week as markets rebounded and investors grew more optimistic about Apple securing an exemption from tariffs.