Signaling an unusually prolonged slump in demand, Apple resellers in China are discounting the price of iPhone 15 models by as much as $180.
Yuan Gao and Debby Wu for Bloomberg News:
iPhone 15 Pro Max handsets are now selling at prices 1,300 yuan ($180) lower than their original on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Tmall. It’s a steeper drop than the roughly $120 discount the company offered on its smartphone lineup around the same time last year, and there are similar reductions on JD.com Inc.’s online platform. Apple’s own store is selling the devices at original prices.
The latest iPhone generation has not matched the usual popularity of Apple’s flagship series in China.
The latest discounts emerged after the Lunar New Year holiday, following rare price reductions on Apple’s website in January. A company representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Apple sales in China dropped 13% to $20.8 billion in the quarter ended December. That fell far short of the $23.5 billion predicted by analysts and was Apple’s weakest performance for that period in the Asian nation in years.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, some generative AI features will be introduced into iOS 18 and the iPhone 16 lineup that will help move iPhones in China and everywhere else.
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“Don’t worry, new pride Apple Watch bands are coming real soon now!” – Tim Cook
But will they be FineWoven?
WeChat IS the killer app in the Chinese market and when the Android OEMs there integrate Samsung’s and Google’s real-time translation tech to work with WeChat, I don’t see practicality minded consumers there purchasing iPhones, New or used, over Android.