The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max see unusually high discounts in China
It almost feels like the smartphone market is slowly but surely crumbling, despite big CEOs like Apple's Tim Cook recently claiming that consumers are willing to spend even more of their money on pricier iPhone models, potentially hinting at the iPhone Ultra. Somewhat contrastingly to that statement, though, it seems iPhone sales are not doing well.
China is one of those markets where Apple is experiencing a drop in sales of its latest phone lineup, and the most recent evidence of that predicament are the abnormally sized discounts on the iPhone 14 series, and more specifically the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. We are talking about 700-800 yuan here, which roughly translates to around $100 (via Bloomberg). Usually it is the more affordable or previous models that see such offers.
Now, a hundred bucks might not seem much — after all it amounts to 7% to 9% — but given that we are talking about the latest iPhones here (and the high-end versions at that) this is a new sight to behold. These price cuts started to appear around the Chinese Lunar New Year, when China Securities Journal reported many of the major state carriers like China Mobile, JD.com, and others came out with new holiday season deals on the iPhone 14 series.
It is worth noting that China has been struggling with Covid-19, which has affected production speed, including Apple's most crucial manufacturing partner in that region. Despite that, restrictions related to pandemic have recently been dropped, which Tim Cook claims has resulted in a rebound in the country's market. Given the overall trend, however, with examples of diminished smartphone sales from other tech giants like Samsung as well, it looks unlikely that we will soon see a positive forecast.
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