Apple acknowledged a few days ago that iPhone sales in China were weaker than expected, as the company had to lower its guidance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019. The new iPhones are still too expensive for the world’s largest market, a new report says, and some retailers have already started discounting several iPhone models, including the iPhone XR and iPhone XS that were launched only a few months ago.
Local retailer Suning cut the price for the 128GB iPhone XR from 6,999 yuan ($1,036) to 5,799 yuan ($858), according to CNBC, which represents a discount of 1,200 yuan ($178).
Similar discounts were spotted for other models. The 256GB iPhone XS Max sold for 9,699 yuan ($1,436) instead of 10,999 yuan ($1,628). A different retailer sold 128GB and 256GB of the iPhone XR for 700 yuan off the regular price.
However, these prices are only available from retailers not from Apple’s official store in China. The report notes that all iPhones are significantly more expensive in China than the US. The discounted 256GB iPhone XS Max from before, at $1,628, is still more expensive than in the US. The same model sells for $1,249 in the States, and that’s the full price for the device. However, US prices do not include sales tax.
Earlier this week, a report from Chinese site National Business Daily (via 9to5Mac) said that Apple has cut prices for iPhone vendors. The price cut ranged from 400 yuan ($59) for most iPhone models to 450 yuan ($66) for the iPhone XR. The price cut affects all iPhones from iPhone 8 to iPhone XS Max, the report said.
If these figures out correct, the iPhone price cuts from retailers are well over Apple’s discounts for retailers. Chinese smartphone vendors may be looking to dump iPhone stock as fast as possible, at least the ones the CNBC report mentions.
