Apple Inc yesterday announced a rare retail promotion in China, offering four days of discounts on its top-tier iPhones and related accessories in advance of the launch of its next-generation devices.
The company, usually reluctant to alter pricing, is to take up to 600 yuan (US$88.83) off the price of its top-line iPhone 13 Pro series from Friday to Monday next week, according to a notice on its Web site.
To be eligible, buyers must use one of a select number of payment platforms, such as Ant Group Co’s (螞蟻集團) Alipay (支付寶). Certain AirPods and Apple Watch models are also part of the promotion.
Photo: Reuters
The discounts come as China’s economy tries to bounce back from major COVID-19 lockdowns in business hubs Shanghai and Beijing, which have hurt sales of leading domestic smartphone brands from Xiaomi Corp (小米) to Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) and Vivo Communication Technology Co (維沃).
Apple bucked the trend by registering healthy growth in China shipments last month, national data showed, although the discounts suggest even it has surplus inventory heading into the latter half of the year.
Weakening consumer demand, inflation and supply chain issues triggered a 9 percent fall in global smartphone shipments in the second quarter, research firm Canalys said this month. Chinese companies took the brunt of that hit, registering double-digit percentage declines.
Apple has traditionally kept iPhone prices unchanged between generations, although this year’s economic upheaval has already pushed it to one unusual move: raising prices in Japan in response to the drastically weakened yen.
The company offers several payment options in China, including installment plans and lower pricing for students, but it has refrained from discounting its flagship products in the country for years.
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