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Apple is cutting prices on select iPhone models in China — again — as the smartphone giant looks to juice sales and boost its position in the increasingly competitive market.
The Cupertino, California-based titan will offer discounts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318) on its official Tmall site for some of its smartphones. Similar discounts are available on Apple’s store on JD.Com, another large e-commerce retailer. The promotions will run for eight days, from May 20 to May 28. They were first reported by the South China Morning Post.
The discounts can be much larger than Apple’s earlier incentives offered this year. In January, Apple began offering discounts of up to 500 yuan ($70) on its iPhones in China — Apple’s first price cut on new models in years. A month later, Apple resellers slashed the price of iPhone 15 models by as much as $180.
Apple has been struggling to compete with rivals like Huawei Technologies, Vivo, and Xiaomi, among other local firms.
Huawei, especially, has seen a resurgence after releasing its latest smartphone series, the Mate 60 Pro, which helped its profits double in 2023. The Chinese technology giant last month announced its new range of high-end smartphones, the Pura 70 Ultra. Chinese state agencies and firms backed by Beijing have also been ordered to ditch iPhones at work and rely on locally-made products.
Apple sold just 50.1 million iPhones in China between January and March, an almost 10% decrease from the same time in 2023, according to the International Data Corporation. Data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government-linked research firm, showed that foreign shipments of smartphones were down 27% during the first quarter of 2024.
However, Apple did record a stronger performance in March compared to the previous two months. iPhone sales grew 12% in March, representing a 37% increase compared to January and February’s performance, according to the China Academy.
And earlier this month, Apple surprised investors by beating analysts’ expectations for revenue generated in the greater China region. The company made $16.4 billion, down from $17.8 billion year-over-year, but more than the $15.3 billion expected.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said iPhone revenue in mainland China grew “on a reported basis” and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the market. Cook visited Shanghai earlier this year to mark the opening of Apple’s 47th store in China.