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People walk past an advertisement for the iPhone 16 Pro at an Apple store during the National Day holiday on October 3, 2024 in Chongqing, China.
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Apple is offering discounts on its flagship iPhones and other products in China for the upcoming Chinese New Year, as the US tech giant faces increased competition in one of its most crucial markets.
The Cupertino giant is offering customers 500 Chinese yuan ($68.50) off the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, and 400 yuan off the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus. The deals also include discounts on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15.
For a long time Apple has resisted offering discounts through its retail channels. Instead, third-party vendors offer deals at certain times of the year. However, as the competition grows, Apple has been more inclined in the last year to publish seasonal offers.
Apple offered a similar Chinese New Year deal last year and in May, the company offered steep discounts as part of China’s 618 shopping festival.
The firm’s latest challenge came from a resurgent Huawei and other domestic brands. Apple smartphone shipments fell 6% year-on-year in mainland China in the third quarter of 2024, according to Canalys. The company’s market share also fell to 14% from 16% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Huawei saw shipments jump 24% year-on-year, Canalys data shows, while the company’s market share reached 16% from 13% a year earlier.
Huawei, which was once the world’s top smartphone player before US sanctions crippled its handset business, has aggressively launched new devices from the second half of 2023. These devices it contains chips that many thought would be difficult to produce due to US restrictions on Huawei.
Last year, the Chinese technology company launched a the first trifold phone of its kind in an attempt to show off their technological capabilities.
