Apple Launches Promo in China Offering Interest-Free Financing When Purchasing New iPhone

[MacRumors]

Apple is teaming up with Chinese payments company Ant Financial Services Group, along with several local banks, to offer local customers interest-free financing on iPhones in China (via Reuters). Apple is continuously looking to boost smartphone sales in China, and this appears to be the latest move in the company's long-term plan to do so.

On its China website, Apple explains that customers can pay 271 yuan ($40.31) per month for the iPhone XR, and 362 yuan ($53.87) per month for the iPhone XS. If customers trade in older models of iPhone, they'll get cheaper installment plans.

In total, customers buying an iPhone worth a minimum of 4,000 yuan (around $595) will qualify for interest-free financing that can be paid over three, six, nine, 12, or 24 months.

Apple has always struggled with iPhone sales in China, and according to Strategy Analytics, the company shipped an estimated 2.5 million fewer iPhones in China in 2018 than in 2017. The company's products have historically been categorized as too expensive for the China market, losing out to low-cost alternatives from popular local rivals like OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi.

In recent weeks, reports have suggested that Apple is seeing improved iPhone sales in China thanks to recent price cuts to the iPhone XR, XS, XS Max, and older models. According to Feng, data sourced from Alibaba suggests that iPhone sales on the site have increased by 76 percent in China since January 13, 2019.

The launch of China's limited-time promotion follows similar offers that have rolled out to a few regions around the world, including a trade-up promo in the United States. In emails sent to customers and on its website, Apple encourages shoppers to upgrade to an iPhone XR from $449 or iPhone XS from $699, with the trade in of an iPhone 7 Plus or iPhone 8.

Article Link: Apple Launches Promo in China Offering Interest-Free Financing When Purchasing New iPhone

 

[macloverHK]

Good. They don't have to sell their kidneys then.

 

[1050792]

I've never seen no many promos with new iPhones... Signs of the times...

 

[tzm41]

I've never seen no many promos with new iPhones... Signs of the times...

Maybe they should just consider... not pricing them so prohibitively expensive?

 

[ChrisMoBro]

They’re still too expensive.

 

[nameischarles]

I've never seen no many promos with new iPhones... Signs of the times...

That’s so true, this is what happens when I go to the Apple site here in Australia. Instead of nice flashy Apple products being displayed, you get this....

 

[Andres Cantu]

That’s all right. Once they exhaust all options and determine that it wasn’t enough for sales to increase, they’ll have to lower the price. Well, we can hope...

 

[Khedron]

It wasn't interest-free already? Wow.

 

[martyjmclean]

It wasn't interest-free already? Wow.

This is a new programme.

 

[itsmilo]

So desperate. Anything that keeps them from lowering the price

That’s so true, this is what happens when I go to the Apple site here in Australia. Instead of nice flashy Apple products being displayed, you get this....

View attachment 823028

Just shows how expensive they are. Trading in a phone AND free financing to buy a damn phone + they aren’t even talking about the Xs Max. That’s even worse!

 

[Juicy Box]

I've never seen no many promos with new iPhones... Signs of the times...

This is new indeed.

Apple traditionally has never done sales, or at least big sales. People complain about Apple's black Friday deals a lot, due to how little the discounts are.

The thing is, Apple never really needed to do these type of discounts, as people purchased their products regardless of premium price due to the perception that they were better than the competition.

Apple also seem to not care about market share until somewhat recently. It is hard for any company to maintain high market share for a premium priced product.

I still think that Apple's products are overall better than the competition, but the gap has narrowed, and people, especially the people in China, are willing to use a slightly worse product that is much cheaper, then pay for Apple's slightly better, but much more expensive product.

 

[5105973]

It's not just a pricing problem Apple has in China. Few people on this forum want to acknowledge how good the Chinese offerings have gotten and how well they integrate with the services and social media China has.

There was a person on this forum last year who is living in China and they said Apple services and the cloud don't work well there. I can't verify that but we have read numerous times on this very site how Apple's policies have clashed with how Chinese consumers actually use services.

And on top of that, the latest Huawei flagships have specs and features that are a genuine threat to Apple and Samsung offerings even outside of China. What they're doing with cameras is amazing. I am no fan of Huawei, (quite the opposite) so it's with trepidation that I keep an eye on how far they've come on their own (on the backs of filched IP). My husband has tested a P30 Pro and it's last year's model with performance that even this year's phones will be hard pressed to beat. In terms of all around performance it is rock solid and the battery life is insane. Apple and Samsung really need to match or exceed what Huawei is doing. The race is on.

Apple's processors are the best, but iOS isn't dazzling the people it needs to win over. Android just doesn't suck enough to lose its Asian audience. And they don't have any privacy anyway over in China, so it's not like Apple can use privacy as a selling point there.

They just don't have anything the Chinese want at any price Apple is likely willing to accept. And the Chinese manufacturers offer any phone color anybody could possibly want, even in crazy gradient effects. So I think the recent traitorous attempt to rebrand Product Red to "China Red" isn't going to help anything and in fact gives bad optics here.

There's actually much Apple could still do to expand its market share in Europe, other Asian regions, and even here in the USA. Perhaps they need to start thinking about doing just that while they figure out a new China strategy that offers Chinese consumers something truly substantive over the competition.

 

[busuan]

Imagine, endless boxes of iPhone Xs stacked from floor to ceiling, each worth $1000 and more, no ETA of shipping out, and incoming shipment of next gen iPhones.
Despairing...

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

So desperate. Anything that keeps them from lowering the price



Just shows how expensive they are. Trading in a phone AND free financing to buy a damn phone + they aren’t even talking about the Xs Max. That’s even worse!

I wonder who buys a new flagship nowadays, every day a bit more. It’s fascinating for me. 12 years is the iPhone around and apple has reached an unbelievable price and people still buy, millions every single year.

And if You buy on credit it’s kind of crazy, you can get an exzellent phone for 150 bucks.

With Samsung You know nowadays that the phone gets significantly cheaper within months, so why won’t wait or get last years FLAGSHIP, HAHA

It’s a crazy world, nothing gets finished anymore, always things are changing often to the worst. Look at how many apps google has built and shredded how apple slows down devices, ... keyboards, gpu, ... a never ending list.

My 4s is still perfect as it ever was. It’s just dead because apple killed it with updates and now the small ram crashes most apps, but it’s a perfect device!

No other iPhone after and I tested nearly every one has reached that perfection imho.

 

[jgdeschamps]

It's not just a pricing problem Apple has in China. Few people on this forum want to acknowledge how good the Chinese offerings have gotten and how well they integrate with the services and social media China has.

There was a person on this forum last year who is living in China and they said Apple services and the cloud don't work well there. I can't verify that but we have read numerous times on this very site how Apple's policies have clashed with how Chinese consumers actually use services.

And on top of that, the latest Huawei flagships have specs and features that are a genuine threat to Apple and Samsung offerings even outside of China. What they're doing with cameras is amazing. I am no fan of Huawei, (quite the opposite) so it's with trepidation that I keep an eye on how far they've come on their own (on the backs of filched IP). My husband has tested a P30 Pro and it's last year's model with performance that even this year's phones will be hard pressed to beat. In terms of all around performance it is rock solid and the battery life is insane. Apple and Samsung really need to match or exceed what Huawei is doing. The race is on.

Apple's processors are the best, but iOS isn't dazzling the people it needs to win over. Android just doesn't suck enough to lose its Asian audience. And they don't have any privacy anyway over in China, so it's not like Apple can use privacy as a selling point there.

They just don't have anything the Chinese want at any price Apple is likely willing to accept. And the Chinese manufacturers offer any phone color anybody could possibly want, even in crazy gradient effects. So I think the recent traitorous attempt to rebrand Product Red to "China Red" isn't going to help anything and in fact gives bad optics here.

There's actually much Apple could still do to expand its market share in Europe, other Asian regions, and even here in the USA. Perhaps they need to start thinking about doing just that while they figure out a new China strategy that offers Chinese consumers something truly substantive over the competition.

You are completely correct.
I frowned upon Huawei, but when my carrier offered me the Mate 20 Lite -which doesn't include all of their flagship phones tech- and showed all the features that basically cover what the iPhone XR offers, followed by the phrase "For 6,000 pesos" (about 300 dollars) I immediately accepted the phone. Beautiful "optical" finish that looks way better in person than on photos, amazing AI dual lens 20+2MP photos on both front and back cameras, EMUI 8.2 (Huawei's custom Android flavor,) USB-C connector, dual sim, expandable to 256GB via flash card... and to top it all, battery can last up to 3 and a half days if you enable extreme energy saver mode when you go to bed... and the list goes on regarding software features.
It screamed backup phone at me in the beginning. Now it replaced my iPhone SE completely, even though I don't like big screens nor Android. Those phones are so good at very attractive prices that I fell for one, and like you said, that's what Apple is facing in China.

 

[scrapesleon]

oh Timmy where is your pride

 

[Glockworkorange]

That’s so true, this is what happens when I go to the Apple site here in Australia. Instead of nice flashy Apple products being displayed, you get this....

View attachment 823028

It’s like that in the US as well. The marketing of these phones is relentless. It used to be iPhones sold themselves—no promotions needed.

 

[Adam Warlock]

It’s like that in the US as well. The marketing of these phones is relentless.

Same in Canada. I'm wondering when ad-blockers are gonna start blocking Apple's main page. ;-)

 

[pika2000]

So desperate. Anything that keeps them from lowering the price



Just shows how expensive they are. Trading in a phone AND free financing to buy a damn phone + they aren’t even talking about the Xs Max. That’s even worse!

Desperate? Apple has introduced financing schemes like this (eg. iPhone upgrade program in the US) many moons ago in various markets. Everybody, including Samsung, has some sort of financing programs in emerging markets. Most people in developed markets also buy their phones in a form of financing through carriers or whatnot.

What people are missing is that Ant is Alibaba. So this means Apple is starting to cooperate more with the big guys in China. Imagine if Apple Pay integrates with Alipay over there. Big deal for Apple, while the masses only see the superficial news of “desperation.”
[doublepost=1550976781][/doublepost]

It's not just a pricing problem Apple has in China. Few people on this forum want to acknowledge how good the Chinese offerings have gotten and how well they integrate with the services and social media China has.

There was a person on this forum last year who is living in China and they said Apple services and the cloud don't work well there. I can't verify that but we have read numerous times on this very site how Apple's policies have clashed with how Chinese consumers actually use services.

And on top of that, the latest Huawei flagships have specs and features that are a genuine threat to Apple and Samsung offerings even outside of China. What they're doing with cameras is amazing. I am no fan of Huawei, (quite the opposite) so it's with trepidation that I keep an eye on how far they've come on their own (on the backs of filched IP). My husband has tested a P30 Pro and it's last year's model with performance that even this year's phones will be hard pressed to beat. In terms of all around performance it is rock solid and the battery life is insane. Apple and Samsung really need to match or exceed what Huawei is doing. The race is on.

Apple's processors are the best, but iOS isn't dazzling the people it needs to win over. Android just doesn't suck enough to lose its Asian audience. And they don't have any privacy anyway over in China, so it's not like Apple can use privacy as a selling point there.

They just don't have anything the Chinese want at any price Apple is likely willing to accept. And the Chinese manufacturers offer any phone color anybody could possibly want, even in crazy gradient effects. So I think the recent traitorous attempt to rebrand Product Red to "China Red" isn't going to help anything and in fact gives bad optics here.

There's actually much Apple could still do to expand its market share in Europe, other Asian regions, and even here in the USA. Perhaps they need to start thinking about doing just that while they figure out a new China strategy that offers Chinese consumers something truly substantive over the competition.

Part of the problem in China is Chinese people buys iPhone in Japan/Hong Kong/Singapore/Taiwan/Australia/etc, but not in China itself, simply because iPhones are cheaper outside China. Go to Japan or Hong Kong during launch days and the Chinese scalpers are too many to count buying iPhones with cash.

Add on to smartphone maturity (any phones in the past 2 years or so are still decent today), the challenge is obvious. And China is not as “prospering” as before either, their economy growth is slowing down.

 

[pratikindia]

There was a person on this forum last year who is living in China and they said Apple services and the cloud don't work well there. I can't verify that but we have read numerous times on this very site how Apple's policies have clashed with how Chinese consumers actually use services.

And on top of that, the latest Huawei flagships have specs and features that are a genuine threat to Apple and Samsung offerings even outside of China. What they're doing with cameras is amazing. I am no fan of Huawei, (quite the opposite) so it's with trepidation that I keep an eye on how far they've come on their own (on the backs of filched IP). My husband has tested a P30 Pro and it's last year's model with performance that even this year's phones will be hard pressed to beat. In terms of all around performance it is rock solid and the battery life is insane. Apple and Samsung really need to match or exceed what Huawei is doing. The race is on.

Apple's processors are the best, but iOS isn't dazzling the people it needs to win over. Android just doesn't suck enough to lose its Asian audience. And they don't have any privacy anyway over in China, so it's not like Apple can use privacy as a selling point there.

They just don't have anything the Chinese want at any price Apple is likely willing to accept. And the Chinese manufacturers offer any phone color anybody could possibly want, even in crazy gradient effects. So I think the recent traitorous attempt to rebrand Product Red to "China Red" isn't going to help anything and in fact gives bad optics here.

yes, it's true. Many of the Apple services are banned here in China. And people use local services from Alibaba extensively for cloud storage to payment. Alipay and WeChat, two most popular AIO application, don't need powerful smartphones to run. Apple Pay, iCloud, iTunes services are crippled in China.

Innovation about camera is true. The place where I work (it's a large MNC) has many Huawei phones compared to other years. They have multiple colours to chose from with lots of features with at any price point. And the most important thing is price of the new iPhones. It's ridiculous.

 

[snowboarder]

Beautiful "optical" finish that looks way better in person than on photos, amazing AI dual lens 20+2MP photos on both front and back cameras, EMUI 8.2 (Huawei's custom Android flavor,) USB-C connector, dual sim, expandable to 256GB via flash card... and to top it all, battery can last up to 3 and a half days...

That's pretty crazy and sad... I would love to have dual sim on my iPhone,
for anyone traveling a lot it's a super useful feature. How can Cook
keep selling those "most amazing" iPhones for $1500 when your $300 phone is simply better?

 

[pika2000]

That's pretty crazy and sad... I would love to have dual sim on my iPhone,
for anyone traveling a lot it's a super useful feature. How can Cook
keep selling those "most amazing" iPhones for $1500 when your $300 phone is simply better?

iPhone XR and XS Max in Hong Kong and China are true dual SIM. Too bad Apple decided to go eSIM on the rest of the markets. Hong Kong units are sold st an extra ~$100 premium in the open market.