New Delhi, April 14 -- Apple Inc.'s iPhone unit shipments surged 10% in the first quarter as part of an effort to accelerate deliveries and avoid expected tariffs on China, according to industry tracker IDC.

The company shipped 57.9 million units during 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 isn't 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.

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 Counterp...