Apple Responds to Huawei Threat by Slashing iPhone 15 Prices in China

Apple has launched another round of steep discounts on iPhone 15 models in mainland China, in a bid to boost sales in its biggest smartphone market and counter a strong showing by Huawei.

iphone 15 china
The discounts run from May 20 to May 28 and are steeper than the price cuts that Apple introduced in February.

For example, on its official store on Alibaba Group's Tmall site, Apple is offering discounts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318) on select models. A top-of-the-line 256GB ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max can now be bought for 7,949 yuan ($1,199), compared to its 9,999 yuan price tag when the device was released in September.

Meanwhile, an entry-level 128GB ‌iPhone 15‌ model is currently being offered at the discounted price of 4,599 yuan ($636), down from its previous price of 5,999 yuan.

Apple has become dependent on discounts to shift ‌mid-cycle ‌iPhone 15‌‌ stock, with strong competition from Huawei's latest high-end series of Pura 70 phones said to be partly behind the most recent drop in sales. Apple's previous discounts in February were thought to be a response to growing interest in Huawei's homegrown Mate 60 series, which launched last August.

Apple sales in China dropped 13 percent to $20.8 billion in the quarter ended December, falling short of the $23.5 billion predicted by analysts.

However, despite a gloomy outlook for 2024, Apple's previous promotions in February are believed to have helped counteract its sales slowdown in China. Reuters reports that Apple's shipments in the country increased by 12% in March, a significant improvement from the first two months of 2024, when the company experienced a 37% slump in sales.

Tags: China, Huawei

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Top Rated Comments

pugxiwawa Avatar
9 months ago
Maybe don’t release the same product over and over and over again…
Score: 78 Votes (Like | Disagree)
incidentallycheckout Avatar
9 months ago
Competition is always good for the consumer!
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CausticSoda Avatar
9 months ago
Hopefully this is just the beginning of Apple realising that it cannot continue to ramp up prices with mediocre upgrades alongside laughable base specs and increasingly damaging competition. I think iOS 18 (with all the joys of AI Siri - oooh!) and a minimal iPhone upgrade after another year that has been financially difficult for many will drive the message home further.

Incidentally, I completely get the fact that we can't expect amazing upgrades every year - I don't expect that. The problem is that Apple still counts on people wanting to upgrade every year, and on them being able to afford that.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
incidentallycheckout Avatar
9 months ago
Vote with your wallet and prices go down as long as it isn't just a handful of people doing it. It has always been that way and always will be.

Streaming companies will learn the same eventually.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Someyoungguy Avatar
9 months ago
$636 for a new, latest model iPhone sure would be nice anywhere.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dominiongamma Avatar
9 months ago
When Apple cuts prices you know they are in trouble
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)