Just after New Year's Day, $Apple (AAPL.US)$ suddenly announced a price reduction.

On January 2, Apple's official website in China announced the "Chizha Benefits" New Year promotion, which will run from January 4 to January 7. Purchasing designated Commodities with eligible payment methods can save up to 800 yuan, and trading in for a new iPhone will also enjoy a discount. Subsequently, the Topics about "Apple's official website suddenly lowering prices" quickly topped the hot search list.

Analysts believe that this price reduction promotion may help Apple boost sales before the Spring Festival arrives and lead the competition against domestic phone brands in the new year.

With Apple's sudden announcement of a price reduction, the competition for smartphone promotions is heating up. Prior to this, Huawei had already launched a price reduction promotion for its smartphones, involving the entire Huawei Pura 70 series, Mate X5, and other models. Among them, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra has a discount of up to 2000 yuan, and the Mate X5 has a discount of 2500 yuan.

Sudden announcement of a price reduction.

At the beginning of 2025, Apple suddenly officially announced a price reduction.

On January 2, Apple's China official website announced a New Year promotional event called 'Amazing Benefits', where users who purchase specified products from January 4 to 7 using eligible payment methods can save up to 800 yuan. Each user is limited to purchasing 2 items per product category, and there are additional discounts for exchanging for a new iPhone.

It is reported that the promotion covers almost all categories of Apple products, including iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Pencil. However, Apple emphasized that the number of products participating in this promotion in Apple Store retail stores is limited (29300 units for iPhone, 3500 units for iPad, 530 units for Mac laptops, 8350 units for Apple Watch, 2590 units for AirPods, and 940 units for Apple Pencil), and sales will end once they are sold out.

Specifically, the products that have decreased in price include the iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and the latest iPhone 16 series launched in September 2024. Although the iPhone 16 series has the shortest market time, it has the largest discounts, with the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max receiving a maximum discount of 500 yuan.

The discounts on Mac products are the largest in this promotional event, with a 600 yuan discount on the 13-inch MacBook Air (M2), while the 15-inch MacBook Air (M3) has a direct price cut of 800 yuan. The price reductions for other categories of products are generally between 100 yuan and 400 yuan.

Apple pointed out that the trade-in service is provided by the company's trade-in service partner, and the actual trade-in amount may be lower than the estimated value, with the specific amount depending on the condition, configuration, release year of the device, and the country or region of sale.

After Apple officially announced the price reduction event, it sparked heated discussions among consumers, and the topic of "Apple's sudden price cut on its official website" quickly trended. Some comments stated, "This price cut is too small; it's not as good as the e-commerce platforms"; others expressed a wait-and-see attitude, saying, "If you don't buy, and I don't buy, it should be able to drop another 800 yuan."

In response to the consumer discussions about whether the official website price reduction can apply for a price difference refund, Apple's official customer service stated, "If the product was purchased within 14 days before the event, it can be returned and repurchased, which can be understood as a way of refunding the price difference."

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first price cut since Apple released the iPhone 16 series.

Looking back, during the November 11 Shopping Festival-Related in 2024, the entire iPhone 16 series, released just a month prior, saw a price reduction, with 500 yuan discount coupons available for the entire iPhone 16 series, making the after-coupon price start at 5499 yuan; after the 500 yuan discount, the starting price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max fell to 9499 yuan, close to the price from third-party channels. The iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other series products also enjoyed varying degrees of discounts. Consumers could also benefit from additional subsidies for trade-ins, up to 1100 yuan.

In May 2024, Apple’s official flagship store on Tmall also promoted the iPhone 15 series, stacking official discounts and Apple coupons, with the maximum discount on the iPhone 15 series reaching 2250 yuan (for the 1TB version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max), and the minimum discount being 1400 yuan (for the 128G version of the iPhone 15).

Analysts believe that compared to previous events, this time the price reduction is not significant, but it may help Apple boost sales performance before the arrival of the Spring Festival and lead in competition with domestic Smart Phone brands.

Is a price reduction wave about to arrive?

With Apple's sudden announcement of price reductions, the battle for Smart Phone promotions is heating up.

Prior to this, Huawei officially launched a wave of price reduction promotions for its Smart Phones, including the entire range of Huawei Pura 70, Mate X5, and other models. Among them, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra offers a maximum discount of 2000 yuan, while the Mate X5 has a discount of 2500 yuan.

The Huawei official mall shows that Huawei has launched a new year promotion themed "Embrace the New Year with Excitement, Achievements Year After Year", which will run from December 20, 2024, to February 16, 2025, covering the entire period around the Spring Festival.

In terms of specific models, compared to previous promotional events, this time the discounts cover more models, including the entire series of Huawei Pura 70, Pocket 2, Mate X5, Nova series, and others.

For the high-end flagship Smart Phone Pura 70 series, Pura 70 Ultra offers a maximum discount of 2000 yuan, with a post-discount price starting at 7499 yuan; Pura 70 Pro+ has a discount of 1300 yuan, with a post-discount price starting at 6699 yuan; Pura 70 Pro offers a discount of 1100 yuan, with a post-discount price starting at 5399 yuan; Pura 70 provides a discount of 800 yuan, with a post-discount price starting at 4699 yuan.

In addition, the folded Pocket 2 series has seen an overall price drop of 1000 yuan. Among them, the 12+256GB model, originally priced at 7499 yuan, now only costs 6499 yuan. The above models can also enjoy additional benefits such as 12-month interest-free payments and education certification, along with exciting perks like 12% off on certain guarantee service products.

Analysts state that as Apple is about to launch its Apple Intelligence service in China, competition with domestic brands in the AI Smart Phone field will further intensify, and other phone brands may also join the price reduction promotion.

In 2024, the Smart Phone market welcomes a long-awaited rebound. Data from research institution Canalys shows that the global Smart Phone shipment volume is expected to reach 1.22 billion units in 2024, an increase of 6% year-on-year. After several years of sluggishness, the Smart Phone Industry is showing strong growth momentum in 2024, with a dense release of new models in December.

From the perspective of the Global Smart Phone market, according to Canalys data, Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi rank in the top three for Smart Phone shipments in the first three quarters of 2024, with a competition for fourth and fifth place among OPPO, vivo, and Transsion.

Research institution IDC predicts that the shipment volume of Smart Phones in China will reach 0.289 billion units in 2025, a year-on-year growth of 1.6%, and that shipment volume will remain stable in the coming years.

As mobile manufacturers accelerate the launch of new AI Smart Phones, the market penetration rate of AI Smart Phones will increase. IDC states that it is expected that the shipment volume of the new generation of AI Smart Phones in China will reach 0.118 billion units in 2025, with a year-on-year growth of 59.8%, and the overall market share will reach 40.7%. Canalys predicts that the AI Smart Phone penetration rate in the global market will reach 17% in 2024, and more mid-to-high-end models will be equipped with more powerful edge AI capabilities in 2025, driving the global market penetration rate to reach 32%, with shipments approaching 400 million units.

According to a research report by China Merchants International, the landing of AI applications on mobile devices will further promote the arrival of the replacement cycle, and it is expected that the global Smart Phone shipment volume will grow by 3% year-on-year to 1.25 billion units in 2025.

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