Global spread of the novel coronavirus has dampened demand for luxurious products and aspirational gadgets such as Apple’s iPhone, a situation that has now prompted several Chinese retailers to offer discounts on the iPhone 11 series in order to entice buyers.
Reuters reported Thursday:
The online store for Suning, a popular Chinese electronics vendor, offers the 64GB version of the iPhone 11 for 4,999 yuan ($707.54), a discount of 500 yuan from the price listed on Apple’s official China Website.
The 64GB version of the iPhone 11 Pro Max, meanwhile, sells for 7,499 yuan ($1,061.38), a discount of 1,600 yuan from the price on Apple’s China website.
You can find similar price cuts on websites of other popular Chinese retailers, including JD.com, Gome and Dangdang. In addition, several authorized Apple resellers on the popular Tmall website are now offering the discounted iPhone 11 devices as well.
These price cuts should boost demand for iPhones in China, Apple’s second-largest market by revenue. In 2019, some e-commerce sites in China dropped iPhone prices to boost demand weakened by strong competition from domestic rivals.
Tim Cook acknowledged the price cuts contributed to Apple’s revived sales in the 1.4 billion people country. As the coronavirus peaked in China in February, Apple shipped fewer than 500,000 handsets in the country that month, according to data from the Chinese government.
Apple’s revival in China could be hampered because it lacks a 5G-capable phone in its offering, although that should change later this year as a 5G iPhone is thought to arrive in September or possibly a bit later if conflicting rumors of delays are to be taken at face value.