This shows that Apple can sacrifice some of its margins to boost sales of its products. This is the case in China, where the iPhone 16 range is currently benefiting from a price reduction of up to the equivalent of €315. These promotions take place during the annual "618" festival, but they are not applied directly by Apple; third-party resellers like JD.com or Alibaba are offering them until June 18.
The map of massive discounts in China
Chinese consumers can thus treat themselves to an iPhone 16 Pro (128GB) for 5469 yuan, while the public price is 7999 yuan. That's a 30% discount that we're not used to seeing on this side of the globe for new iPhones.
Reducing the price threshold below 6,000 yuan is all the more interesting given that, under a national plan to stimulate demand, local Chinese governments—like the city of Beijing—subsidize purchases of these products up to 500 yuan.
Aside from one-off state support operations, this isn't the first time that Apple and its network of Chinese sellers have launched such discounts during this festival; in fact, it's been the case for several years. However, the apple company has tended to increase them lately. Already in January, the Apple company offered a 500 yuan discount (around €62) to boost iPhone sales, which we imagine were sluggish.
Apple suffered a 2% drop in revenue generated in China in the first quarter. It was worse at the end of last year: in the fourth quarter of 2024, the decline was 11% despite the holidays. The situation is complicated for the American manufacturer: in March, smartphone shipments from abroad—a sector dominated by Apple—fell by 49.6%, according to the country's Academy of Information and Communications Technology. Local manufacturers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo now hold 92% of the Chinese market. In the first quarter, shipments in China reached 69.7 million units, up 3.3% from last year. Chinese brands increased by 9%, while deliveries by foreign manufacturers fell by 25% (8.9 million units).
Source: Reuters
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