"iPhone 15 on Sale Just One Month After Launch"... Apple Bows to Pride in China

Discounted Sales on Chinese E-commerce
Competition Intensifies with Huawei and Others

Apple has started discount sales of its latest smartphone, the iPhone 15 series, in the Chinese market. This means it has given up on price protection just one month after the launch. It is a sign of fierce competition in the smartphone market in China.

According to reports from local Chinese media on the 24th (local time), the iPhone 15 series is being sold at discounted prices on Chinese online shopping malls such as Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo.

The current official selling price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max 512GB at the Apple Store is 11,999 yuan (about 2.2 million KRW). However, on Taobao, it is sold for 10,698 yuan (about 1.96 million KRW).

Pinduoduo is selling the iPhone 15 Plus 128GB model for 6,098 yuan (about 1.12 million KRW), which is 900 yuan (about 160,000 KRW) cheaper than the official price of 6,999 yuan (about 1.28 million KRW), and JD.com is also selling the iPhone 15 at a discount of up to about 270,000 KRW.

The reason Apple is pursuing an aggressive sales policy just one month after the launch appears to be due to sales volume. Currently, the Chinese smartphone market is highly competitive as Chinese companies are performing well.

For example, Huawei has overcome the US blacklist sanctions and released the latest high-performance 'Mate 60 series.' This smartphone, equipped with China's first 7-nanometer (nm) chip, has already achieved considerable success through 'patriotic marketing.' Moreover, the Mate 60 is about $200 (approximately 269,100 KRW) cheaper than the iPhone 15.

According to global smartphone market research firm Counterpoint Research, initial sales of the iPhone 15 in China have decreased by 4.5% compared to the previous model, the iPhone 14.

iPhone 15 Series

Apple allows its partner sellers in China to offer discounts. Also, with the approach of the largest shopping festival in China, Guanggunjie (November 11 every year), e-commerce companies are likely to have launched active promotional events.

Meanwhile, China, along with the United States, is one of the most important markets for Apple. As of last year, sales in the Chinese market accounted for about 20% (74 billion dollars, approximately 100 trillion KRW) of Apple's total corporate sales.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.