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Apple Discounts Products in China Amid Fierce Competition

MajorFubar said:
AVP has nothing to do with phones.
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Just like AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad have nothing to do with phones.
MajorFubar said:
And it's flopped, btw.
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Like the OG HomePod flopped. It will morph into something else. But you can bet the AVP will be supported for a full six or seven years.
MajorFubar said:
iPhones are too expensive for a product that fundamentally hasn't changed in nearly a decade.
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As another poster mentioned, a device that holds a lot of my life, provides entertainment, communication and is supported for six to seven years, is not expensive at the price. If you believe iPhones are expensive there are alternatives.
 
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crzdcolombian said:
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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Interesting you say that about TM.
I had their one plan with 4 lines around $140/month. I upgraded to the Go5G+ and my monthly just raised $5 and that wasn't a big deal because of the deals I received. I usually keep my phones for at least 4 years right when I can still get the maximum trade-in from them.
You must be persistent and talk with a few CS agents until they give you the best deal. I usually use X (Twitter) to reach their CS. They seem more knowledgeable.
 
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.
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Going by your train of thought, cars haven't changed much in over 5 decades. All still have same 4 wheels, steering wheel and a gasoline engine...
In the same way. to say iPhones haven't changed in nearly a decade shows you don't know how to look "under the hood". When you do, you will realize how much it has changed!

And the AVP is way far from flopped, unless you are trying to compare it to a toy, which would be plain ignorance.
 
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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.
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While Apple is a publicly traded company, they need to keep increasing margins and making more money to keep investors happy. Tim Cook wouldn't last as CEO very long after announcing Apple is embarking on a mission to cut prices, margins, revenues and profit.

Apple used to operate happily at 40% margin. They are now at around 48%. I expect they will hit close to 50% margin next year. We also need to see how Apple are going to mitigate the potential losses of $20bn a year of Google search income that the US government is hellbent on stopping. One thing is for certain, Apple won't eat that loss - they'll take it back via increased margins/prices elsewhere in the business.
 
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It’s not about price, innovation or product quality etc. The Chinese government effectively uses propaganda to influence public opinion, encouraging citizens to support domestic brands like Huawei, despite concerns about product quality.

And many prominent websites feature posts critical of Apple and capitalism, aligning with the government’s propaganda.

There are so many sorry brainwashed suckers there who don’t even know what Facebook is, for example.
 
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MacRumors said:
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.
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$68. My goodness, Tim Cook is such a miser. His new nickname should be Tightwad Tim.
 
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Keep it up!! The more Apple hurts, the better chance we have to prevent their expansion into NC 😄 Apple is notorious for never reducing their prices because they think it cheapens their brand so they’re terrified right now it sounds like.
 
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From everything that I have heard, China's economy is doing very poorly right now.

Apple price reductions should help sell more product but I'm doubtful if it will make much of a difference.

If people don't have the money, new electronics will not be a priority.
 
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A better approach would be to innovate to drive up demand; something they used to be very good at 10+ years ago.
 
Plutonius said:
From everything that I have heard, China's economy is doing very poorly right now.

Apple price reductions should help sell more product but I'm doubtful if it will make much of a difference.

If people don't have the money, new electronics will not be a priority.
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The economy is not great in China but it’s not great in the US either. Credit card defaults are reaching new highs.

The economy has been propped up by printing money but we’re starting to see the cracks appear from that and other disastrous economic policies of the past few years.
 
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v0lume4 said:
A folding phone has far and away more practical use cases than the AVP.
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Maybe in your dreams! 🤣
It's like you saying a bicycle has far and way more practical use cases than a car.

I could care less for a folding phone. A regular phone fits flat into my pocket, a folding phone creates an odd bulge. And let's not talk about the crease at the folding point, the plastic feeling on the display, etc.
 
I’m fully aware Apple are suffering with sales, as my iPhone 14 Pro began exhibiting the usual ‘make the device feel old’ tricks almost immediately after turning 2 years old!

Lag, stutter, sometimes up to 4 taps on an icon or link to get a response, software introduced flicker as the screen comes on, battery stops charging at a certain % if I use the phone a lot, charge drops if charging and using etc. Yes I know every phone manufacturer is doing the same tricks, but Apple charge a premium price and you’d hope for more than 2 years of smooth operation.
 
BladeRunner95 said:
I’m fully aware Apple are suffering with sales, as my iPhone 14 Pro began exhibiting the usual ‘make the device feel old’ tricks almost immediately after turning 2 years old!

Lag, stutter, sometimes up to 4 taps on an icon or link to get a response, software introduced flicker as the screen comes on, battery stops charging at a certain % if I use the phone a lot, charge drops if charging and using etc. Yes I know every phone manufacturer is doing the same tricks, but Apple charge a premium price and you’d hope for more than 2 years of smooth operation.
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I had an iPhone 11 Pro until I replaced it with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, only because I needed a larger device.
I didn't have the issues you and conspiracy theorists claim.
No other devices have lasted me as much as my Apple devices.
 
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Amazing Iceman said:
I had an iPhone 11 Pro until I replaced it with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, only because I needed a larger device.
I didn't have the issues you and conspiracy theorists claim.
No other devices have lasted me as much as my Apple devices.
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LOL! Don’t take it personally! If you don’t think Apple employ these techniques to drive sales then you must be exceptionally naive!

Like I said, they all do it, but I’ve always used Apple as they seemed less aggressive than others, but that seems to be changing as they need to boost sales to account for the declining market share in China.

Due to these techniques I’ve got my oldest Apple phone - a 6s - out for music streaming and it’s much smoother than the 14 Pro, and despite being 10 years old and used solidly for 2-3 years the battery health is 99%! Another way they drive sales now.
 
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Here is a radical idea. Instead of discounting the iPhone, make it more feature rich? Crazy idea right? The blue/green bubble might be a major selling point in the US, but in China it's moot.

Release an iPhone that isn't a rehash of the previous model.
 
Mousse said:
Here is a radical idea. Instead of discounting the iPhone, make it more feature rich? Crazy idea right? The blue/green bubble might be a major selling point in the US, but in China it's moot.

Release an iPhone that isn't a rehash of the previous model.
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But what features? Smartphones are a mature product. They’re all merging into a phone with about a 6.5inch screen, rear cameras, wireless charging etc.
 
So resell these old Apple Waches to hipsters, pointing out that Apple has officially designated them as ‘vintage’.
 
If they want Chinese consumers to buy more of the Pro models, it might help to give them a Pro model that doesn’t look like one they bought in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022…seriously it’s time for a design change. That 17 Pro better look different if Apple doesn’t want to introduce even bigger discounts.
 
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