Recently, the topic of "Apple price reduction" has surged in popularity.

According to information from the Tmall platform, starting from 0:00 on January 4, $Apple (AAPL.US)$ Tmall's official flagship store announced the New Year Goods Festival policy, with discounts of up to 1,000 yuan on the iPhone series. Compared to the maximum 800 yuan discount previously offered on the Apple official website, this time the discounts at the Tmall official flagship store are even greater.

Just recently, Huawei suddenly adjusted its prices, offering discounts of up to 2,000 yuan on the Pura 70 Ultra and 2,500 yuan on the Mate X5.

As a result, many people speculate that this Apple price reduction is an effort to have a good New Year.

It should be noted that in the second quarter of last year, Apple fell out of the top five in smartphone market sales in China for the first time.

Sales of foreign brands such as Apple have plummeted in China.

According to data released yesterday by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the export of foreign brand smartphones to China decreased by 47.4% year-on-year in November 2024, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline.

Based on data calculations from CAICT, the shipment volume of foreign brand phones decreased from 5.769 million units a year ago to 3.04 million units.

As early as October, the shipment volume of foreign Smart Phones had declined by 44.25% year-on-year. Among them, Apple was particularly affected, with a significant drop in iPhone sales.

Under the dual pressures of economic downturn and fierce competition from domestic brands, Apple is facing unprecedented challenges.

In the second quarter of 2024, Apple briefly fell out of the top five Smart Phone suppliers in China. Although there was some recovery in the third quarter, sales still declined by 0.3% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Huawei's performance was exceptionally strong, with sales growing by 41% year-on-year.

Can price cuts recover lost ground?

In 2024, "price cuts" became the keyword for Apple in the Chinese market: in the first half of the year, the iPhone 15 series saw a significant price drop; in the second half, just a month after the release of the iPhone 16 series, during the November 11 Shopping Festival-Related, Apple’s entire product line was discounted with the support of e-commerce platforms.

On the first working day of 2025, Apple China announced the "Exciting Benefits" limited-time promotional activity for the Spring Festival on its official website, offering a discount of up to 800 yuan for qualifying payment methods on designated Commodities from January 4 to 7, along with trade-in discounts for purchasing a new iPhone.

Apple's price cuts this time almost cover all hardware categories, including iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Pencil.

Before Apple launched this spring event on its official website in China, Huawei also introduced a price reduction campaign called "Embrace the New, Achieve Year on Year" in its official mall. Among these, Huawei's high-end flagship smart phone Pura 70 series, launching in April 2024, offers a maximum discount of 2000 yuan, while the Huawei Mate X5 foldable smart phone also enjoyed an official price cut, with designated versions eligible for a 2500 yuan discount.

At this time, Apple's "rarely seen" promotion is obviously aimed at regaining the lost ground; however, whether this price-cutting move can effectively change the situation remains questionable.

UBS Group's analyst team warns that Apple's "winter is here," predicting that iPhone shipments for the October-December 2024 quarter are expected to decrease by 5% year-on-year, reaching 74 million units, which is lower than the market consensus of 77.5 million units.

Editor/Rocky