iPhones being sold in China at lower prices as Huawei dominates market
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Beijing: The US tech giant, Apple, has announced a price-cutting strategy on its official Tmall site in China, offering discounts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318) on select iPhone models as the company faces heavy competition from local rival Huawei in the premium smartphone market.
The discount campaign runs from May 20 to May 28, offering significantly lower prices than those in Apple's first discount drive in February, which offered discounts of up to 1,150 yuan. The most attractive price reductions are on the 1TB iPhone 15 Pro Max model, while other models also see significant price cuts.
For instance, the 128GB version of the base iPhone 15 model has a discount of 1,400 yuan, according to Reuters' checks on Monday. The increased competitive pressure on Apple comes after Huawei introduced its new series of high-end smartphones, the Pura 70, following the launch of the Mate 60 last August.
Apple's previous discounting effort in February appears to have helped the company mitigate a sales slowdown in China. Apple's shipments in China increased by 12 percent in March, according to Reuters' calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). This marks a significant improvement from the first two months of 2024, when the company experienced a 37 percent slump in sales.
