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Apple
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Apple takes China’s smartphone battle house to house with free 3-hour iPhone delivery

Apple is ramping up the fight for the Chinese market as rivals Huawei and Xiaomi pile on the pressure

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Apple is ramping up the fight for the Chinese market. Photo: Shutterstock
Iris Dengin Shenzhen

Apple customers in selected mainland Chinese cities can now get a new iPhone delivered to their door for free within three hours, as the US tech giant steps up efforts to defend its turf in the world’s largest smartphone market.

From Wednesday, three-hour delivery is free for in-stock items including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and AirPods. Other products will incur a delivery fee of 45 yuan (US$6.40).

Apple normally charges 45 yuan for its express service in mainland China, which has been available in certain regions since 2022.

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Apple’s mainland resellers have also partnered with Meituan to offer deliveries placed via the Chinese food-delivery giant platform in under an hour.

The latest move is part of Apple’s renewed push to win over Chinese consumers amid fiercer competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei Technologies, which has been rolling out aggressive new product launches. Huawei’s latest flagship, the Mate 80 series, launched in late November and featured upgraded home-grown processors.
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Cupertino-based Apple has been grappling with weaker sales in Greater China. In the third quarter, its revenue from the region – which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – fell 4 per cent year on year, a decline the company attributed to “supply constraints”.
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