Apple Cuts iPhone 14 Pro Prices in China by Up to $118 in Rare Sales Push

Monday February 6, 2023 2:57 am PST by Tim Hardwick

Apple has cut the price of its latest high-end iPhones in China in an apparent attempt to offset dwindling demand in the country (via Bloomberg).

iPhone 14 Pros in Hand Black Background Feature
Apple merchant JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce platform, is among the retailers that have taken 800 yuan ($118) off iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models in the last few days. State carrier China Mobile has also slashed its prices for the phones.

Retailers in Shenzhen have also offered price cuts ranging from 600 to 800 yuan for the higher-end devices in the ‌iPhone 14‌ series. Meanwhile, Apple's own local website continues to offer the devices at regular prices.

The discounts came around the end of the Lunar New Year season, when retailers typically expect an increase in footfall before schools reopen. Inventory for the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models at some stores has reportedly sold out already.

As Bloomberg notes, the roughly 7% to 9% discounts on the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro range mirrored offers on lower-end models, which are typically the first to get cut, suggesting Apple is responding to weak demand in the world's largest smartphone market.

Apple on Thursday released its financial results for the quarter ending in December, reporting a roughly 5% decline in revenue compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple cited a "challenging environment" that included iPhone supply issues due to COVID lockdowns in China, which hampered its ability to ship devices to customers.

During his investors call, CEO Tim Cook pointed to a rebound in the China economy now that COVID restrictions have been relaxed, but suggested Apple's performance for the current quarter would mirror that of the December period, suggesting another 5% revenue decline year-on-year. ‌iPhone‌ revenue is expected to accelerate in the March quarter.

China's smartphone market finished 2022 with an annual shipment of 287 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 14% and the first time since 2013 that the country's market shipment has fallen below 300 million units, according to a report by Canalys. Apple reached an all-time-high market share of 18% for the year, despite growth for the fourth quarter dropping by 24% due to supply issues, said the report.

Tags: China, Bloomberg

Top Rated Comments

Pezimak

8 months ago

So first we are told its down to supply shortages, but now they are reducing the price of iPhones in a select market? Hmm that would surely mean the low sales are actually due to the product being overpriced, and no one buying it at that price, plus the fact the iPhone's don’t really offer anything over the previous years models.

Consumer power, vote with your wallet.

Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)

contacos

That's not GOOD news, but if they're cutting the prices of all brands of phones, then something is going on other than lack of demand for iPhones in particular.

That is actually AMAZING news. Apple seems to have pushed it where they can go with pricing and people are answering with closed wallets

Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

MacWiz_007

When you essentially make the same phone six years in a row, these things are bound to happen.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

User 6502

So it’s confirmed production issues had little to do with poor sales, and apple didn’t sell much because iphone 14 was underwhelming and overpriced. Good, there is hope that apple learned the lesson and will give us something more decent in September.

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

RedTheReader

Hell hath frozen over…

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

boak

Please update your article.
Did Apple do discounts or is that resellers doing offers for customers?

Because that is a ver different story, if just resellers do offers.

Resellers coordinate with Apple on pricing in China, I believe. So Apple is indirectly doing the discount. Same thing happened in 2019, I think.

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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