Apple offers holiday discount in China as Huawei competition heats up

Apple is providing reductions on its top-end iPhones and different merchandise in China for the upcoming Chinese language New 12 months because the U.S. tech large faces heightened competitors in considered one of its most important markets.

The Cupertino large is giving prospects 500 Chinese language yuan ($68.50) off of the iPhone 16 Professional or iPhone 16 Professional Max, and 400 yuan off the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus. Affords additionally embody reductions for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15.

For a very long time Apple has resisted providing reductions by way of its personal retail channels. As a substitute, third-party retailers would provide offers at sure instances of the yr. Nonetheless, as competitors ramps up, Apple has been extra inclined within the final yr to submit seasonal offers.

Apple offered a similar Chinese New Year deal last year and in Could, the corporate offered hefty discounts as a part of China’s 618 procuring competition.

The agency’s newest problem has come from a resurgent Huawei and different home manufacturers. Apple smartphone shipments fell 6% year-on-year in mainland China within the third quarter of 2024, in line with Canalys. The corporate’s market share additionally slipped to 14% from 16% a yr earlier.

Huawei in the meantime noticed shipments bounce 24% year-on-year, Canalys knowledge exhibits, whereas the corporate’s market share hit 16% from 13% a yr earlier.

Huawei, which was as soon as the primary smartphone participant on the planet earlier than U.S. sanctions crippled its handset enterprise, has aggressively launched new devices since the latter half of 2023. These gadgets contain chips that many had thought would be difficult to produce attributable to U.S. restrictions on Huawei.

Final yr, the Chinese language tech agency launched a first-of-its-kind trifold phone in a bid to indicate off its technological capabilities.