China has passed Europe as Apple's No. 2 market

iPhone 6 Plus China

(Getty Images/Feng Li)

China is now Apple's biggest market outside the U.S.

In today's earnings report, Apple said that revenue from the Greater China region was $16.8 billion, ahead of Europe, which came in at $12.2 billion. The United States is still the company's biggest region with $21.3 billion in sales.

Last quarter, Apple boasted of doubling its Chinese revenues year over year, and said that over 70% of iPhone buyers in China were first-time buyers, meaning the market was not close to saturated yet.

Last quarter, China lagged Europe $16.1 billion to $17.4 billion. For all of Apple's 2014 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30 of last year, China accounted for only $29.8 billion versus $40.9 billion in Europe.

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