“Several Chinese electronics retailers including Alibaba-backed Suning and JD.com have slashed iPhone prices this week, after Apple recently blamed poor sales of the smartphone in the country for a rare revenue warning,” Reuters reports. “The discounting, as steep as $118 for the recently launched 64GB iPhone XR, is the latest sign that Apple’s weak holiday sales in China may have extended to the current quarter.”
“The price cuts on iPhones by Chinese retailers began in the middle of this week, with at least six offering promotions this weekend, according to checks done by Reuters. Prices for iPhones sold through [Apple’s] Chinese website remained unchanged,” Reuters reports. “Such widespread price cuts are not uncommon around shopping festivals like Single’s Day in November, but these cuts stand out as they affect Apple’s latest XS and XR models that were released only months ago, said Mo Jia, a Canalys analyst who tracks China’s smartphone industry.”
“Jia believes Apple itself could have lowered prices of the phones it ships to distributors, or that distributors may have slashed rates in order to move more units,” Reuters reports. “‘It’s possible Apple wants to test the market’s feedback if it brings down the channel prices. Or, Apple might be under pressure to clean out its stock of iPhones,’ he said… Suning announced on Friday that it would start selling the 64GB iPhone XR for 5,699 yuan, 800 yuan ($118.46) less than the device’s sticker price in China. It is also selling the 64GB version of the iPhone 8 for 3,899 yuan, a 1,200 yuan discount.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: $118.46 and $177.44 off the sticker prices for an iPhone XR and iPhone 8 respectively are strong discounts that may help move the needle on iPhone sales in China.
SEE ALSO:
Apple cuts prices on iPhones in China – January 10, 2019
How about cutting the prices in the US?
Isn’t Chinese New Year around the corner? These are just holiday sales, no?
Agreed, although it can be hard to cross-compare.
For example, China has a 16% VAT, which is probably included in this price, whereas advertised US prices are before State Sales Tax is added.
As such, instead of merely saying “versus MSRP of $749″…
We should take this updated price ( 5,699 yuan is ~US$843), then multiply by (1/1.16) to subtract out the VAT to be able to make a more ‘equal’ comparison to the USA’s “Starting at” price of $749:.
This calculates to US$708 (China, pre-VAT), and yes, it means that the pre-tax “base” price in China is $40/unit cheaper than the same pre-tax “MSRP” price in the USA.