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Apple Discounts Products in China Amid Fierce Competition

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Apple has announced rare direct discounts on its flagship iPhone models and other products in China, signaling an effort to counter mounting competition and fluctuating consumer demand in one of its largest markets.

iPhone-16-Pro-16x9.jpg

Between January 4 and January 7, Apple will provide discounts of up to 500 yuan (approximately $68) on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models through its website and Apple Stores in mainland China. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models will be discounted by 400 yuan, while iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models will receive markdowns of up to 300 yuan. Other products, including the MacBook Air, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Pencil, will also see price reductions, with the MacBook Air eligible for a discount of up to 800 yuan. The promotional items are available in limited quantities, with only 29,300 iPhones included in the sale. The promotion is tied to specific payment methods, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay.

Apple rarely offers direct discounts on its latest products, particularly its flagship iPhone models. Such promotions are usually handled by third-party retailers in China, especially during major shopping events like Singles Day, when platforms like Alibaba's Tmall and Pinduoduo slash prices to drive sales. For instance, during the last Singles Day shopping festival in November, iPhone 16 models were discounted by as much as 1,600 yuan on Tmall. The timing of the latest promotion comes as Apple faces heightened competition from Huawei and other Chinese brands, although the company did offer a similar promotion last year.

Article Link: Apple Discounts Products in China Amid Fierce Competition
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/01/02/apple-discounts-products-in-china/
ton of phone companies I never heard of before when I went for work the past 2 years. some of them have insane cameras. I don't think I saw anyone with a Samsung or any Samsung stores at all.

Competition is good !!! Apple wants a insane profit margin on their goods and they can get them because

A.) products are great
B.) Products are cool.
C.) 0 Competition in the US....

think many people dont notice it because of deals some of our carriers here give us but $800-1200 for a phone is insane especially if you have a few people on your plan.

My favorite is T-mobile always tries to get me to change my plan from one that is 7 lines for $120(all phones paid off, 2 free lines) to a plan that is $250-280 but I can get a new iPhone pro every year.

Like na bro I am good.
 
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Apple has announced rare direct discounts on its flagship iPhone models and other products in China, signaling an effort to counter mounting competition and fluctuating consumer demand in one of its largest markets.

The promotional items are available in limited quantities, with only 29,300 iPhones included in the sale.
Click to expand...
iPhone 16 Pro / 16 Pro Max discount up to 500 yuan or approx. $68.00 USD
iPhone 16 / 16 Plus discount of 400 yuan or approx. $55.00 USD
iPhone 14, 15 discount up to 300 yuan or approx. $41.00 USD
MacBook Air discount up to 800 yaun or approx. $110.00 USD

Not enough of a discount if Apple is trying to "counter mounting competition and fluctuating consumer demand." The U.S. sees bigger discounts than these from Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy,... and even Apple during Back-To-School, Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

And limiting the availability of items? That's new.
 
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crzdcolombian said:
ton of phone companies I never heard of before when I went for work the past 2 years. some of them have insane cameras. I don't think I saw anyone with a Samsung or any Samsung stores at all.

Competition is good !!! Apple wants a insane profit margin on their goods and they can get them because

A.) products are great
B.) Products are cool.
C.) 0 Competition in the US....

think many people dont notice it because of deals some of our carriers here give us but $800-1200 for a phone is insane especially if you have a few people on your plan.

My favorite is T-mobile always tries to get me to change my plan from one that is 7 lines for $120(all phones paid off, 2 free lines) to a plan that is $250-280 but I can get a new iPhone pro every year.

Like na bro I am good.
Click to expand...
For some reason, the only way to go is to change your cell carrier every two years.

I just switched our 3 phones over to Mint Mobile. It cost $600 to switch; that’s the full cost for a year of service for all three phones. In a year or two, maybe T-Mobile will give us all new iPhones if we sign up for two years of service, so maybe I’ll do that. We shall see.
 
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Alameda said:
For some reason, the only way to go is to change your cell carrier every two years.

I just switched our 3 phones over to Mint Mobile. It cost $600 to switch; that’s the full cost for a year of service for all three phones. In a year or two, maybe T-Mobile will give us all new iPhones if we sign up for two years of service, so maybe I’ll do that. We shall see.
Click to expand...
3 phones for $600... that sounds like their 12 month Unlimited plan promo for $180 + taxes and fees that ends today.

Debating jumping on that Mint deal myself. The AmEx $45 cash back promo would help bring it down to about $165 for me.

If you are expecting new iPhones from T-Mobile, keep in mind you usually have to be on one of their higher tiered plans which means $$$. Cheaper to buy the iPhone yourself and stay with an MVNO like Mint.
 
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MajorFubar said:
Apple's phone dominance is well and truly over except in America. And fanbois can downvote my opinion for all they like, it doesn't change the truth. I'm not celebrating the 'downfall' but it was easy to see it coming when year after year we saw nothing truly innovative.
Click to expand...
So the AVP was not truly innovative?
What kind of innovative product are you expecting?
Just in case, a foldable phone is not innovative.
 
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MajorFubar said:
Apple's phone dominance is well and truly over except in America. And fanbois can downvote my opinion for all they like, it doesn't change the truth. I'm not celebrating the 'downfall' but it was easy to see it coming when year after year we saw nothing truly innovative.
Click to expand...
Is it about innovation or is it about price? At the core none of these phones can do much more than the other and I've yet to see any ground breaking innovation from any competitors. Apple just can get away with charging a high premium for their devices in the US since Samsung is the only serious competitor while price competition is much steeper in other countries. Plus the monthly phone financing by the carriers in the US greatly helps Apple in being able to sell $1000+ devices which in turn makes US consumers less sensitive to the total price.
 
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I think Apple should definitely start thinking about lowering the prices for the iPhone to improve sales. It’s crazy that this is a trillion dollar company and still they keep margins so high. It’s good to see costumers leaving for better and cheaper options, I hope this sends Apple a message — and it’s sending, at least in China. If we can’t get innovation, at least give us better prices.
 
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The so-called “discount” doesn’t mean much after converting to dollar value, makes even less sense in China when those iPhone costs upwards of 10k yuan. To put that into perspective, that’s equivalent of someone’s 3-5 months of total income. Compounded by the fact that WeChat is THE PLATFORM in China, this sale is simply not far enough.
 
It makes no sense at all to write any kind of article about selling something in China based on price competition alone. I am very surprised Apple has ANY marketshare in China, not due to price, but due to the subsidies and other incentives given to its competitors there (e.g. don't bring your iPhone to work if you work for the government, but bring any other kind of phone). I will say that the innovation side of things is pretty impressive there, with tons of options for much cheaper phones that have capabilities iPhone doesn't have (and there are a ton of Hauwei stores all over the place). However, it is fairly widely believed that in terms of last quality, there are iPhones, and everything else. Maybe this is why Apple continues to have a significant market there (that and the cache' of having an iPhone). Still surprises me.
 
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MajorFubar said:
Apple's phone dominance is well and truly over except in America. And fanbois can downvote my opinion for all they like, it doesn't change the truth. I'm not celebrating the 'downfall' but it was easy to see it coming when year after year we saw nothing truly innovative.
Click to expand...
Not in Sweden. Year after year iPhones increase market share. 2024 57% of all mobile phones were iPhones.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185481/market-share-of-leading-mobile-device-vendors-in-sweden/
 
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Apple has stopped to bring meaningful updates to the smartphone market. IOS being too closed is harmfull by now (way too many examples). Hardware has ok built, but Apple greed its killing it: super cheap anachronistic screens on all but "pro" devices sold at non-competitive prices, so-so cameras, videos at night always have those green dots since forever!, no foldable option for those who like it, even no (fast) charger in the box!, and its batteries, so mediocre.... The smarphone market in china is much more open and competitive than in USA in many aspects.
Apple greed will kill it sooner than later. Shame because my switch to Android will be very painful... might keep my 15PM for a while...
 
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MajorFubar said:
Apple's phone dominance is well and truly over except in America. And fanbois can downvote my opinion for all they like, it doesn't change the truth. I'm not celebrating the 'downfall' but it was easy to see it coming when year after year we saw nothing truly innovative.
Click to expand...
The downvotes will be correct because it’s not a matter of opinion, but of facts: there is no overall downfall of the iPhone in terms of market share outside the US. There was never “dominance” either. In many countries, market share is in fact increasing.
 
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It makes me sick that Apple has simply chosen not to make an innovative iPhone with a battery that lasts until I'm done with my busy day of composing angry texts about how much I hate Apple. /s
 
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lanomds1 said:
I think Apple should definitely start thinking about lowering the prices for the iPhone to improve sales. It’s crazy that this is a trillion dollar company and still they keep margins so high. It’s good to see costumers leaving for better and cheaper options, I hope this sends Apple a message — and it’s sending, at least in China. If we can’t get innovation, at least give us better prices.
Click to expand...
No doubt Apple has entered to its comfort zone after 6 years of just iterative, marginal and incremental improvements with the iPhone, specially if we consider the high prices we pay for an iPhone with minimal changes year to year.

Apple has to act very quickly to bring major and really innovative improvements to next generation iPhones, otherwise they can start to suffer a major sales decrease, since common people (except US) is not considering Apple as innovative as used to be.
 
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MajorFubar said:
AVP has nothing to do with phones. And it's flopped, btw.
iPhones are too expensive for a product that fundamentally hasn't changed in nearly a decade.
Click to expand...
I’ve never understood this argument about phone prices. Would I love a cheaper phone? Sure. But that’s just what I say. There are cheaper phones - even iPhones. I don’t go for them.

Plus, this device is used more in my day to day than any other thing. It’s a phone, music, workout, endless work tasks. I would pay twice this much if I had to - why? Because it is literally the most useful device outside of a vehicle to me.

Innovation!?!? I mean come on. We have the future and endless knowledge at our fingertips I don’t want them adding some wing-ding like a camera shutter button every year in the name of innovation. But these things can text satellites now!!!! I mean there is innovation. People just want to see something physically different which is change for change sake.

Note: I’m not just defending Apple here. More phones in general. However, I’m in the ecosystem and it’s not just the phone that drives my upgrades. It the manner in which my suite of devices work together that pleases me. Not whether my phone bends in half.
 
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