Apple’s iPhone 16 already selling at a discount in China, as AI delay cools demand

E-commerce platforms are offering price cuts of up to 11% on Apple’s latest smartphones, as Huawei steals the market buzz

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An Apple store in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:00pm, 17 Sep 2024

Online retailers in China have slashed the prices of Apple’s new iPhone 16 series ahead of its official release, as consumers in the world’s largest smartphone market hold out for the release of the US company’s first on-device artificial intelligence (AI) software.

PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo, one of the country’s most popular e-commerce platforms, has started selling the iPhone 16 Plus with 512 gigabytes of storage for 8,999 yuan (US$1,268), a 10 per cent discount from the official price of 9,999 yuan. The 128GB iPhone 16 is being sold at an even steeper 11 per cent discount.

Both Pinduoduo and Alibaba Group Holding's’ Taobao marketplace have slapped a 4 per cent discount on the 256GB version of the high-end iPhone 16 Pro Max, lowering the price by 400 yuan to 9,599 yuan. Alibaba’s Tmall shopping platform also offers buyers the option to pay for a new Apple handset in 24 instalments without interest charges.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

The discounts suggest soft demand for Apple’s latest flagship handsets in China, a major market for the world’s most valuable company and one of the world’s most competitive. The iPhone 16 ships this Friday without AI features, considered the main selling point of the new series.

While Apple said it will launch its AI system in US English next month and in localised English in several markets in December, other languages, including Chinese, will not be available until next year. The company has also given no indication of how it plans to offer Apple Intelligence in China, where the government has tight oversight over generative AI services accessible by the public.