Apple cuts iPhone prices in China in the face of fierce competition from Huawei

BEIJING (Reuters) — Apple has launched an aggressive discount campaign on its official Tmall website in China, offering discounts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318) on select iPhone models.

The discount comes as the US tech giant seeks to defend its position in the high-end smartphone market, where it faces increasing competition from local rivals such as Huawei.

Running from May 20 to 28, it is more substantial than that offered by Apple in February.

While the highest discount in the February campaign was 1,150 yuan, this time the discounts are as high as 2,300 yuan. The biggest discount applies to the 1TB iPhone 15 Pro Max model, while other models also benefit from significant price drops.

For example, the 128GB version of the base model iPhone 15 is discounted by 1,400 yuan, according to Reuters checks on Monday.

The increased competitive pressure on Apple comes after Huawei last month introduced its new high-end smartphone series, the Pura 70, following the launch of the Mate 60 last August.

Apple’s previous discounting efforts in February appear to have helped the company mitigate slowing sales in China.

Apple’s shipments in China rose 12% in March, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). This is a significant improvement from the first two months of 2024, when the company experienced a 37% decline in sales.

(Reporting by Liam Mo and Casey Hall; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)