Apple on Monday announced a rare retail promotion in China on Monday, offering four days of discounts on its premium iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max along with related accessories ahead of the launch of its next-generation “iPhone 14” family.
Bloomberg News:
The company, usually reluctant to alter pricing, will take up to 600 yuan ($89) off the price of its top-line iPhone 13 Pro series between July 29 and Aug. 1, according to a notice on its website. To be eligible, buyers have to use one of a select number of payment platforms, such as Ant Group Co.’s Alipay. Certain AirPods and Apple Watch models are also part of the promotion.
The discounts come as China’s economy tries to bounce back from major Covid-19 lockdowns in business hubs Shanghai and Beijing, which have hurt sales of leading domestic smartphone brands from Xiaomi Corp. to Vivo and Oppo. Apple bucked the trend by registering healthy growth in China shipments in June, according to national statistics, though the discounts suggest even it has surplus inventory heading into the latter half of the year.