Apple is aggressively exploring every dimension to safeguard its market share in China. While the company is reportedly in talks with Chinese multinational tech conglomerate Tencent and TikTok owner ByteDance to roll out AI features, in its latest move, the Cupertino-headquartered company is now starting to offer rare discounts on its latest iPhone series. As per the company’s website, people in China can avail of the discount for four days from January 4 to 7 by purchasing through specific payment methods.
The discounted rate applies to several iPhone series models, including the latest iPhone 16 series. Under this rare limited-time offer, the iPhone 16 Pro (starting from 7,999 yuan) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (starting from 9,999 yuan) will receive a maximum discount of 500 yuan. Meanwhile, for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, people will get a price cut of up to 400 yuan. In addition to this, the company is also offering discounts of 200 to 300 yuan on older iPhone models, and the prices of MacBook laptops and iPad tablets have also been slashed under this latest move.
The price drops come as fresh IDC data shows that Apple experienced a 0.3% decline in smartphone sales in China during the third quarter of 2024, while Huawei’s sales surged by 42% for the same period. Notably, Apple’s revenue in China for Q3 2024 fell to $15.03 billion, down from $15.08 billion in the same period of the previous year. The company’s annual revenue from China also saw a decline of 7.7%, totaling $66.95 billion. In contrast, global sales increased by 6.1%, reaching $94.9 billion for the same quarter.
One of the main reasons Apple is losing out to local rivals is the lack of AI features, which have become a prominent demand among the younger audience. Although the iPhone maker began integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its devices in December 2024, this is not significant for the Chinese market, as ChatGPT is unavailable in China due to strict regulatory requirements. And this is why Apple is looking to partner with local companies to implement its AI features.
On the other hand, homegrown giants like Huawei and Xiaomi – which are leveraging locally developed GenAI models to appeal to the tech-savvy young generation – have been giving tough competition to Apple, even with significant price reductions on high-end devices. According to estimates, in Q3 2024, Huawei held an 18% market share (with a 42% year-on-year growth), second only to Vivo’s 19%, while Apple had approximately a 15% market share in the same quarter, closely followed by Xiaomi with around 15% market share.
