As a direct impact of of the 3 percent tax cut announced by the Chinese Government, Apple has swiftly moved in to cut prices on most its hardware lineup. However, even though the tax cut is just 3 percent, Apple has lowered the prices considerably, even more than the tax cut allows it to in some cases.
To start with, Apple’s iPhone X flagship line-up has seen considerable price drop. Prices for iPhone XS have dropped by as much as 500 yuan ($74), making it a 6 percent cut on the earlier price.
In other products too, the price drop is significantly higher than the actual tax cut allows. According to the company’s website, the entry-level iPhone XR now costs 6,199 yuan, 4.6 percent lower than on March 29, when Apple listed 6,499 yuan as its price. The high-end iPhone XS Max model got a 500 yuan price cut, which works out to approximately $74.50.
The additional price cuts, over the 3 percent tax cut, are largely an implication of the company’s lowering demand from China. The Cupertino-giant already suffered a blow to its revenues due to weakened China demand and these price cuts could just be to spice up demand.
Earlier this year, official third-party sellers in China including Tmall and JD.com, lowered prices of Apple products. According to Apple’s customer service, anybody who has bought an affected product from Apple in China within the past 14 days can receive a refund for the difference in price.
In a related news, Apple is also close to manufacturing its latest iPhone models in India as well. The company is scheduled to start a trial run soon. Apple has already been manufacturing and selling certain older iPhone models in India, but this will mark the first time when a flagship device from the company will be manufactured in world’s fastest growing smartphone market.
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