iPhone 15 Series Price Drop – Apple Faces Tough Competition from Chinese Smartphone Brands
The iPhone 15 series has been released for over 4 months now. As per the usual practice in previous years, Apple’s smartphones tend to have substantial price drops a few months after their release, ranging from a few hundred yuan to around a thousand yuan. The same holds true for the iPhone 15 series.
However, what has been surprising is the extent of the price drop for the iPhone 15 series, which is significantly higher than any of its predecessors. In the past, although Apple would typically lower prices by a few hundred to a thousand yuan through e-commerce channels during the Chinese Lunar New Year, this year Apple seems to have gone all out.
Recently, Apple has successively offered price reductions through its official channels, first through its Chinese website, covering nearly all Apple products, with a maximum reduction of 800 yuan. In this, the iPhone 15 series models could see a reduction of up to 500 yuan.
Subsequently, Apple’s authorized channels have started to lower the prices by over a thousand yuan, with prices on platforms like Tmall and JD.com falling below 5000 yuan. Furthermore, various interest-free installment activities have been introduced, clearly aimed at stimulating consumer purchases.
Of particular note is that, on some e-commerce platforms, the final price for the iPhone 15 has dropped to 4598 yuan. Compared to the initial price of 5999 yuan, this represents a reduction of over 1400 yuan, a price drop never seen before in previous iPhone models.
The comprehensive price drop by Apple is largely due to the strong rise of high-end domestic smartphones, which have successfully captured Apple’s market share in the high-end segment, with the Huawei Mate 60 series and Xiaomi 14 series being particularly remarkable.
According to activation data in the domestic mobile phone market from December of last year, Xiaomi’s activation volume reached 3.4809 million units this month, with a market share of 16.5%, a 25.8% year-on-year increase. Although Huawei ranks lower, its activation volume reached 2.9411 million units, marking a substantial 59.2% year-on-year increase.
Comparatively, although Apple secured the second position in the domestic market in December, with an activation volume of 3.3621 million units, its situation is not optimistic. This is due to a 17.7% year-on-year decline, indicating that Apple’s popularity in the Chinese market is waning.
Given this scenario, Apple had no choice but to reduce the price of the iPhone 15 series, as only a price drop could stimulate consumer purchases of the phone. However, it seems that Apple has underestimated the determination of domestic smartphone brands to capture the high-end market.
On one hand, Apple continues to make substantial price reductions on the iPhone 15 series, while on the other hand, the prices of the Huawei Mate 60 series and Xiaomi 14 series remain as firm as ever. This indicates that Apple’s price drop is no longer affecting the positioning of domestic smartphones.
Now is the time for domestic smartphones to seize Apple’s share in the high-end market. Based on comments from JD.com, the cumulative number of reviews for the high-end domestic smartphones, Huawei Mate 60 Pro and Xiaomi 14, has exceeded 200,000.
Reports suggest that the performance of Huawei and Xiaomi in the high-end market is highly regarded by external observers, with increased expectations. The Huawei Mate 60 series is even expected to exceed sales of 30 million units.
If the Huawei Mate 60 series truly achieves this sales milestone, it would indicate that the market performance of the Mate series has returned to the peak moments of the Mate 40 series, bringing Huawei one step closer to regaining its pinnacle.
The popularity of the Huawei Mate 60 series can be attributed to the return of Huawei’s self-developed Kirin 9000S chip, signifying Huawei’s complete breakthrough of technology blockade by the United States and regaining control over the core technology of self-developed chips and the independently controllable production process.
Moreover, the popularity of the Mate 60 series can also be attributed to various other factors such as outstanding design, leading dual-mode satellite communication capabilities, the second-generation Kunpeng glass and Xuanwu architecture, as well as full-focus ultra-clear imaging capabilities.
In the case of the Xiaomi 14 series, its popularity stems from Xiaomi’s persistence in the high-end market. While previous generations of Xiaomi’s high-end products received mixed reviews, the Xiaomi 14 series has broken through this awkward situation to become its most successful high-end product.
This is attributed to its unique product positioning as a top-tier small-screen flagship, with the added benefits of the self-developed Surge OS, a Leica triple camera system with 50 million pixels, and the all-new third-generation Snapdragon 8 chipset. In terms of system experience, imaging performance, and overall power, the Xiaomi 14 series is at the forefront of the current market.
It is evident that both the Huawei Mate 60 series and the Xiaomi 14 series, as high-end domestic smartphones, possess their own core competitive advantages, which place them far ahead of Apple, which seems to be struggling.
Relying on their outstanding product capabilities, Huawei and Xiaomi have won unanimous recognition from consumers, carving out a significant space in the high-end market and directly seizing Apple’s share, compelling Apple to reduce prices.
With the comprehensive strength of domestic high-end smartphones continuing to strengthen, it’s believed that Apple’s path in the Chinese market will become increasingly challenging. What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to comment, like, and share your opinions.