iPhone 15 in China: unusual decline in prices

iPhone 15

Apple faces an unusually extended drop in iPhone 15 sales in China, prompting sellers to offer price cuts of up to $180 in an effort to re-attract buyers, according to a new Bloomberg report.

According to the report, China’s popular e-commerce platform Tmall, owned by Alibaba Group, has offered additional price reductions for iPhone phones, currently selling them for around $120 less compared to last year’s prices over the same period.

It comes after Apple rolled out a RMB500 (equivalent to US $70) resolution in the price of iPhone 15 phones on its official website ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in China, before the company then resold the phones at its usual price, and the US company itself rarely offers price cuts for its products.

Vendors’ promotions and discounts indicate a decline in the popularity of iPhone 15 phones in China, and Apple sales in China fell 13% in the last quarter of 2023.

Some analysts believe there is a correlation between strong interest in new Android phones boosted by the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) and lower sales of iPhones, which saw sales decline by about 10% year-on-year early this year, while Huawei achieved remarkable growth in return.

It is also worth noting that China’s economy is generally shrinking as citizens’ consumer capacity declines, demand for goods and services declines and prices fall.

Apple is expected to add a large number of AI benefits with upcoming OS updates, and one of its objectives will be to try to drive sales of its products.