BEIJING — Apple posted a 23-percent surge in China smartphone sales in the first nine weeks of 2026, bucking a broader market decline as some Android phone makers raised prices in response to higher costs for memory chips. China’s overall smartphone market fell 4 percent year on year in the January-to-early-March period, with government subsidies introduced at the start of the year doing little to revive sluggish consumer demand, data on Thursday from research firm Counterpoint showed.Apple’s gains were driven by e-commerce discounts and its eligibility for state subsidies on the base iPhone 17 model. BIG LEAP People browse for…