Apple's shipments in China rose 0.6 per cent year-on-year to 10.8 million units in the third quarter, buoyed by demand for its iPhone 17 series despite a sluggish smartphone market, reported Reuters.

The company held a 15.8 per cent market share during the period, ranking second in total shipments, according to data released Wednesday by research firm IDC.

China's overall smartphone shipments fell 0.6 per cent year-on-year to 68.4 million units in the third quarter. The second quarter saw a steeper decline of 4 per cent.

"Apple's value-for-money base model iPhone 17 successfully captured value-seeking customers, helping it to achieve slight growth and a higher ranking than the previous quarter," said Will Wong, senior smartphone analyst at IDC.

Apple was the only brand among China's top three vendors to post shipment growth during the quarter, IDC's data showed.