Hong Kong
CNN
—
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 deep discounts by the iPhone maker come as it battles stiff competition from Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and Vivo and declining market share in the world’s second-largest economy.
Apple said on Monday it would slash prices of some of its smartphones by up to 23% until May 28 on Alibaba’s Amazon-like site Tmall.
Now available to customers According to the promotion, the iPhone 15 is priced at 4,599 yuan ($639), a 1,400 yuan ($194) reduction from the original price. At Apple’s official store on Tmall.
Apple is hoping to boost sales during China’s second-biggest online shopping bonanza of the year, which typically runs 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.
The two festivals now exceed Black Friday and Cyber Monday in total sales, with all major e-commerce sites and many brick-and-mortar retailers in China running multi-week campaigns across their platforms to attract customers. We are running a promotion. Stars often participate in this campaign.
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 lowering the prices of 15 iPhone models and iPads sold in China since October, but this month’s discounts are the biggest the company has ever offered in its largest overseas market. According to Chinese state media.
“Apple needs to aggressively defend its market share” [in China]” Jefferies analysts said in a note Tuesday.
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 aren’t the only ones waging a price war 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 indicator of the country’s consumption, has seen 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.
over 50 books In a joint statement on Monday, the companies said they would not take part in this year’s shopping festival, citing aggressive pricing policies that demanded discounts of 20-30 percent on JD.com.
One statement issued by Beijing’s 10 publishers said the boycott was a necessary measure to “maintain stability and prosperity” in the book publishing market.
Another statement, released by 46 Shanghai companies, 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.
