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A customer purchases an iPhone 15 series at Apple’s flagship store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, on May 21, 2024.
Hong Kong
CNN
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Apple is implementing unprecedented price cuts in China as major brands and retailers launch promotions for the annual 618 shopping festival in the face of weak consumer demand.
The iPhone maker’s steep price cuts come at a time when the company is battling stiff competition from Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and Vivo, as well as a dwindling market share in the world’s second-largest economy.
Apple announced on Monday that it would cut prices of some smartphones by up to 23% until May 28 on Tmall, an Amazon-like site owned by Alibaba.
Now available to customers According to the promotion, the iPhone 15 was priced at 4,599 yuan ($639), down 1,400 yuan ($194) from its original price. At the official Apple store on Tmall.
Apple is hoping to boost sales during China’s second-largest online shopping blitz of the year, which typically takes place from late May to mid-June. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
618, launched by e-commerce company JD.com in 2008, is rivaled only by Singles’ Day, founded by Alibaba in 2009.
Both festivals now surpass Black Friday and Cyber Monday in terms of total sales, with all major e-commerce sites and many brick-and-mortar retailers in China running weeks of promotions across their platforms to attract customers. We offer Stars often participate as well.
Rihanna appeared in Shanghai on Tuesday, where she made popular Chinese breakfast crepes and hosted a livestream session introducing Fenty Beauty products. on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.
Apple has been slashing prices on 15 iPhone models and iPads sold in China since October, but this month’s discount is the biggest the company has offered in its biggest sale overseas. According to Chinese state media, the market is in turmoil.
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JD.com Inc. headquarters during a ceremony commemorating its 20th anniversary and 618 shopping event in Beijing, China, Sunday, June 18, 2023.
“Apple needs to aggressively defend its market share” [in China],” Jefferies analysts said in a Tuesday note.
Apple’s market share in China fell to 15.7% in the first quarter of this year from 19.7% in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, Huawei’s sales increased by 70%, closing the gap with Apple.
After Monday’s price cut, Apple’s iPhone 15 is now in the same price range as smartphones made by Xiaomi and Huawei.
Smartphone makers are not the only ones engaged in price wars in China.
Almost every sector, from food and clothing to home appliances and automobiles, is offering deep discounts, reflecting the dramatic changes in the country’s consumption patterns.
The 618 Shopping Festival, a key barometer of the country’s consumption, sees increased competition from e-commerce sites and retail brands offering discounts.
But the price cuts are so brutal that some companies are boycotting the event.
More than 50 books issued a joint statement on Monday saying they will not participate in this year’s shopping festival, citing aggressive pricing policies on JD.com that demand discounts of 20-30%.
A statement from 10 Beijing publishers said the boycott was a necessary step to “maintain stability and prosperity” in the book publishing market.
Another statement released by 46 companies in Shanghai said they opposed “disorderly” competition in the market.
Even major state-owned publishers spoke out against the “disorganized” price competition.
“We hope to see widespread resistance to the disruption of discounts and more effective regulation,” a subsidiary of Shanghai Century Publishing said on Monday on its official account on the country’s Instagram-like social platform Xiaohongshu. said.
