On January 15th, Apple's official website in China launched a limited time discount for the Chinese New Year. From January 18th to January 21st, purchase designated products through eligible payment methods, with a maximum discount of 800 yuan.
Purchase iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, or iPhone 13 using eligible payment methods, and save up to 500 yuan.
Buying a 13 inch or 15 inch MacBook Air (M2 chip model) or a 13 inch MacBook Air (M1 chip model) through a payment method that meets the conditions can save up to 800 yuan.
In addition, purchasing iPad, Apple Watch SE, AirPods (second or third generation), Apple Pencil (second generation) and other products through eligible payment methods can enjoy varying degrees of discounts.
Behind the price reduction is a significant decline in sales of Apple's iPhone series products.
IDC China Senior Analyst Guo Tianxiang said that overall, the price reduction on Apple's official website is mainly due to the limited appeal of the upgrade of the iPhone 15 series products to Chinese consumers. The competitiveness of flagship products of Chinese mobile phone brands has improved, not only with Huawei's return, but also with Xiaomi 14 series, vivo's X100 series, and Honor's foldable screen series, which have put significant pressure on Apple's market performance.
Analysts at Jefferies, a Wall Street investment bank, reported in a report that iPhone sales in China decreased by 30% year-on-year in the first week of 2024.
It is worth noting that the iPhone 15 series did not lack promotional activities on e-commerce platforms before. Not only did the discounts continue after Double 11, but there were even greater discounts. Therefore, there have been constant reports of iPhone 15 series prices plummeting.
It is reported that in the beginning of 2024, Apple has adjusted the channel prices of the iPhone 15 series, which is also rare in Apple's history. This means that there is still greater room for price adjustments in some third-party channels and e-commerce platforms.
Last week, Apple's stock rating was downgraded again. Analysts at Redburn Atlantic Securities believe that the upward potential of Apple's stock price in the coming years will be very limited. Therefore, the rating of Apple's stock has been downgraded from "buy" to "neutral", marking the third time since the new year that the rating of Apple's stock has been downgraded.
Previously, US investment bank Piper Sandler downgraded Apple's rating from "overweight" to "neutral", with a target price of $205, citing concerns about iPhone inventory levels and sales growth rates peaking. However, the target price of $205 still has some room for improvement compared to Apple's current stock price.
Barclays analysts led by Tim Long have stated that the new iPhone 15 has performed mediocrely, with sales and configurations falling short of expectations, and it is expected that the iPhone 16 will do the same without any more attractive features or upgrades.
"Despite failing to meet expectations for most quarters of the past year, Apple's stock price has performed better than other companies, and we expect this situation to change. Based on the above judgment, Barclays analysts have downgraded Apple's stock rating to low configuration and lowered the target price from $161 to $160.".