Sales plummeted, Apple agents in China aggressively discounted new iPhones

IPhone dealers in China are offering attractive discounts on the latest Apple devices. This is seen as an effort to reverse the trend of sales decline amid the Covid-19 pandemic has just temporarily passed over in this country.

Suning, one of Apple's largest retail partners in China, is offering a discount of up to 1,500 yuan (about $ 212) on the iPhone 11. The move is expected to stimulate adjustment. Much more price of other 4G smartphones.

Apple has had a hard time turning the iPhone into a huge success in China. The high price makes Apple's latest devices inaccessible to a large number of users, while facing fierce competition from domestic brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi.

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Until the end of last year, everything seemed to be positive for iPhone sales in China as it was still on the rise. And then all those results vanished when the corona virus broke out in this country. In February, when Covid-19 peaked in China, fewer than 500,000 iPhones were sold in the country.

A report by MyDrivers on April 4 showed that retailers in the country are aggressively reducing prices to change the position of this smartphone.

Discount iPhone all over China

Suning.com is offering discounts from 500 yuan (71 USD) for iPhone and up to 1,200 yuan (about 169 USD) for iPhone 11 Pro. These versions are currently priced starting at 4,999 Yuan (about 705 USD) and 7,499 Yuan (about 1,057 USD) respectively. The 1,500 yuan discount (about $ 212) for the iPhone 11 Pro Max, is currently on sale for 7,999 Yuan (about $ 1,128).

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Suning.com's discount program comes weeks after Apple offers its own discount rates for iPhones in China. However, Apple's price drop only focuses on older versions, such as iPhone XR, iPhone XS and XS Max. Other retailers, like JD.com and Tmall, have also started lowering iPhone prices from the beginning of this year.

Industry experts are expecting this discount to result in a chain reaction, with other 4G device makers also starting to cut their prices in response. Only 5G devices will probably avoid the impact of this price reduction thanks to technological differences.

Pan Jiutang, Xiaomi's investment division partner, Xiaomi Industry Investment Department, believes that 5G devices will be safe from this price drop because they already have attractive prices for performance. The momentum for 5G development is accelerating in China, while the iPhone 5G will be launched this fall if the corona virus does not delay the process.

Only time will tell how the Covid-19 pandemic will impact Apple, both in China and around the world. Global head-on sales are hard to avoid, and that's why Apple decided to revise its second-quarter sales forecast.