Before the "6·18" shopping festival, the news of Apple's iPhone price drop of more than 1,000 yuan has attracted widespread market attention.
Recently, multiple media reports said that Apple issued a price adjustment notice to distributors on the 10th of this month. The 16 Pro Max model of iPhone 16 in all capacity versions has been reduced by 160 dollars (equivalent to RMB 1313.06); while the 128GB version of iPhone 16 Pro has been reduced by 176 dollars (equivalent to RMB 1445.27), and other versions have also been reduced by 160 dollars.
On the 12th, China News Weekly consulted the customer service of the Apple official website and the customer service of various flagship stores and self-operated stores of online e-commerce platforms as consumers, and they all said that they had not received any recent price reduction notices. However, a staff member from a third-party offline authorized store said that the 512GB version of iPhone 16 Pro had already dropped by 600 yuan on the 11th, and there might be further reductions in the next few days.
The Apple China official website customer service responded to China News Weekly on the 12th, saying that they had indeed received many inquiries from consumers regarding the above price reduction issues. However, the phones on the official website are currently at their original prices, no recent price reduction notices have been received, and the products on the official website do not participate in national subsidies. The customer service of the Apple Tmall flagship store and the Douyin self-operated flagship store both stated that models below 6000 yuan can currently stack national subsidies, with no other discounts or price reduction activities available.
Synchronous promotional activities on multiple platforms have sold out the national subsidy models.
With the price reduction of the iPhone 16 series, some models of iPhone 16 Pro, originally priced over 6000 yuan and unable to enjoy national subsidies, can now also enjoy national subsidies. On May 11th, JD.com was the first to launch a major promotional event for Apple phones. On this platform, the 128GB version of iPhone 16 Pro, originally priced at 7999 yuan, only requires 5499 yuan after stacking national subsidy discounts, a reduction of 2500 yuan. In addition, other storage versions and the Max version have also seen price reductions. Although they cannot participate in national subsidies, the price reductions are also over 2000 yuan each.
Taobao quickly followed up with discounts. According to the latest promotional information released by the Tmall Apple Store official flagship store, starting from 20:00 on May 16th, the 128GB version of iPhone 16 Pro will cost 5499 yuan after stacking national subsidies and various discounts, a reduction of 2500 yuan compared to its original price of 7999 yuan. The Apple Store official flagship store is an Apple-owned store, where both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 can enjoy "national subsidies," and the 128GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro has the largest discount of up to 31%, making it the most attractive model for Apple.
The page on the Pinduoduo billion-dollar subsidy shows that the navy blue 128GB version of the iPhone 16 is priced at 4758 yuan, a reduction of 1241 yuan compared to the official website price; some colors of the 128GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro are priced at 5498 yuan, a reduction of 2501 yuan compared to the official website price; some colors of the iPhone 16 Pro Max are priced at 7899 yuan, a reduction of 2100 yuan compared to the official website price.
Under multiple discounts, the national subsidy version of the 128GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro was once completely purchased by consumers, and related topics also topped the Weibo hot search list.
Why does Apple offer such a large discount?
This round of price cuts by Apple can be considered as a leading move with unprecedented intensity. Multiple media reports point out that the core reason for Apple's current significant price cuts is that its phone sales have not met expectations.
China is one of Apple's most important global markets. However, the iPhone faces fierce competition in the Chinese market, and Apple's revenue in Greater China has been declining year-over-year for several consecutive quarters. Apple's fiscal fourth quarter report ended on September 28, 2024, showed that in this quarter, Apple's income from Greater China was 15.033 billion US dollars, making Greater China the only region where Apple's revenue has decreased year-over-year. In the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, Apple's revenue in Greater China was 18.51 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 11%. In the second quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, Apple's revenue in Greater China was 16 billion US dollars, decreasing again.
According to data from market research firm IDC, in the first quarter of 2025, China's smartphone market shipments increased by 3.3% year-over-year, reaching 71.6 million units. In the rankings, Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO, and vivo occupied the top four positions, while Apple ranked fifth with shipments of 9.8 million units, a year-over-year decline of 9%, making it the only brand among the top brands to experience negative growth.
In addition, according to Canalys data, Apple's shipments in China in 2024 were 42.9 million units, a year-over-year decline of 17%, showing the most significant sales decline among the top five mobile phone manufacturers, and its annual sales in China have been surpassed by Huawei.
Image source: Yicai Global
When products are no longer in short supply, promotions become routine. Since Apple launched the iPhone 16 series, it has cut prices multiple times. As early as October 2024, during the "Double Eleven" promotion on Tmall, the Apple Tmall official flagship store offered a 500 yuan discount on the iPhone 16 series, marking the first time the new models were discounted on Apple's official channels just one month after release. On January 2nd, 2025, Apple China announced the "Chizha Welfare" New Year promotion, offering up to 800 yuan off across all product lines.
In addition to price cuts, Apple is also seeking other ways to attract consumers. Recently, there have been reports that Apple is developing a foldable phone, which may go into production next year. An industry analyst believes that the timing of Apple's foldable phone launch is somewhat dependent on the performance of iPhone sales. If iPhone sales are weak, it may prompt Apple to accelerate the launch of the foldable phone to attract consumer attention. Additionally, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reported that Apple's AI is expected to enable some functions for the first time in iOS 18.6 in mainland China, with technical support provided by Alibaba and Baidu.
(Compiled by Observer Network based on reports from China News Weekly, Yicai Global, The Paper, Securities Times, and other publicly available sources.)
This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7504182712723604022/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Please express your opinions by clicking the "Support/Dislike" buttons below.