Price reduction information. Official website screenshot
Apple official announcement, price reduction promotion.
On January 15th, the official website of Apple China announced the launch of a limited time promotion for the Chinese New Year from January 18th to 21st. This preferential policy almost covers the entire range of Apple products, with a maximum price reduction of 800 yuan. Among them, all models of the iPhone 15 series, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, or iPhone 13 can have a maximum price reduction of 500 yuan.
Entering the New Year, Apple products have already started to reduce prices.
The price of iPhone 15 starts at 4820 yuan, iPhone 15 Plus starts at 5710 yuan, iPhone 15 Pro starts at 6830 yuan, and iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at 8560 yuan. On January 8th, a reporter from Shell Finance found in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen that the prices of Apple's new phones were all more than a thousand yuan lower than the official website.
Apple's multi-channel price reduction
A wholesaler from Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, told a reporter from Beike Finance, "The price of Apple phones has dropped a lot. This is the current trend." Another wholesaler also said that the price of Apple phones has dropped significantly, but in terms of sales, "no one can say for sure.".
Not only in the Huaqiangbei market, but also in the Pinduoduo platform, the price of Apple phones after being subsidized with billions of yuan has been discounted by over a thousand yuan. In order to boost sales, Apple has also begun to lower prices. On the JD platform, Apple's self operated flagship store shows that the price of iPhone 15 series products has been reduced by 600 to 800 yuan.
Around New Year's Day 2024, Apple's stock price plummeted continuously, with a market value evaporating over one trillion yuan (RMB). Barclays Bank has slightly lowered its target price for Apple over the next 12 months from $161 to $160.
Since its release, the iPhone 15 has lacked its previous popularity in China. According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, the sales performance of the iPhone 15 series in China for 17 days after its release was lower than last year's iPhone 14. At the same time, the launch of new phones such as Huawei Mate 60 has sparked a rush to purchase and led to sustained shortages.
Compared to 2022, Apple's market share in the high-end smartphone market decreased from 75% to 71% in 2023. Counterpoint Research points out that this is mainly attributed to Huawei's recovery in the Chinese market driven by the Mate 60 series. Samsung has also won market share with its S23 and foldable series. Folding screen smartphones have also become a differentiating factor in the high-end market.
"The pressure that Apple is currently facing is quite high," said Ma Jihua, a senior analyst in the communication industry, to reporters. "From Apple's own perspective, the innovation of its products has become increasingly insufficient in recent years. In addition, it has not kept up with the pace of the entire industry in the development of new smart terminals, such as cars and smart homes, which are now its weaknesses, so Apple is facing great market pressure."
Price reduction failed to stimulate sales, challenging high-end image
The prospect of Apple's price reduction also seems pessimistic.
According to a report by Jeffrey analysts, although Apple has offered significant discounts on multiple iPhone models in China's major online markets, it has failed to stimulate sales growth.
"The iPhone 15 had an unusually sluggish start in China last year, with a recent year-on-year decline expanding to 30%. At the same time, sales of other mobile phone brands in China have shown growth, with Huawei growing the fastest with its Mate 60 new product series." Jeffrey estimates that Huawei's smartphone shipments in 2023 were 35 million units. IPhone sales in China will continue to experience a double-digit decline this year.
The phenomenon of declining revenue cannot be ignored behind the sharp decline in Apple's market value and price reduction. According to its financial report for the third quarter of 2023, Apple's revenue for that quarter was $89.498 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.72%; Although net profit has increased, this is the fourth consecutive quarter of decline in Apple's revenue. And the iPhone business accounts for nearly half of its revenue, which can be said to be the fundamental support for its revenue.
From a business perspective, the hardware business has declined in all aspects except for the iPhone: the net sales of the Mac business were $7.614 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 34%; The net sales revenue of iPad business was 6.443 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 10%; The net sales of wearable, home furnishings, and accessories business were 9.322 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 3%. By region, the net sales of Greater China in the third quarter of last year were $15.084 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%.
"Apple is the darling of the mobile internet era. It is a super brand that has risen with the rise of mobile internet. As the whole society moves from the mobile internet era to the intelligent era and the Internet of Things era, Apple's innovation and leading pace are no longer as before. The brilliant Apple has indeed entered a downhill path." Ma Jihua said.
"Apple's' high-end 'image is facing unprecedented challenges." Global Communications industry analyst Ma Bo analyzed to reporters that from a global market perspective, Apple's long-term insistence on high prices is supported by its unique performance and ecology. However, with the frequent updates and optimizations of Android phones, the performance advantages of the iPhone are gradually being erased. The former has a trend of anti surpassing in compatibility, interaction, and experience. "There has been no qualitative improvement in performance for Apple phones, so they have lost the foundation of high prices. Domestic consumers can no longer find a reason to pay a premium for Apple," said Ma Bo.
IPhone 16 criticized for lack of novelty, Apple betting on new growth points
Recently, rendered images of iPhone 16 Pro series phones have been exposed on social media platforms.
According to relevant information, the new device has expanded its screen size, added a camera button, and mainly improved its processor performance and shooting ability in other aspects. Although the final actual product situation still needs to be confirmed after official release.
After the rendering was exposed online, many netizens expressed that "there is no novelty at all", "it doesn't feel much different", "the value of buying a new machine is getting lower and lower now"
It is widely believed in the industry that if the innovation of squeezing toothpaste continues, the iPhone will receive more roast from users.
Apple is also trying to bet on new growth points. On February 2nd, Apple will launch its first wearable hybrid reality headset device, the Apple Vision Pro, in the US market, with a starting price of $3499.
This is a product that Cook highly values. Cook once said that this device marks the beginning of a new era of computing technology, "just like Mac takes us into the era of personal computing, iPhone takes us into the era of mobile computing, and Apple Vision Pro takes us into the era of spatial computing."
"Since taking over Apple, Cook has placed great emphasis on wearable devices, and now headsets have become a heavily anticipated area. Apple has a certain level of technological accumulation and development determination in virtual reality. However, Ma Jihua also reminded that this path is not easy because the development of headsets and virtual reality not only depends on terminal devices, but also has very high requirements for the network. In addition, there are also conditions for application development." It is unknown whether Apple's headsets can keep up with the current situation, and whether it can achieve the capabilities it promotes and make the user experience keep up with it after its launch is also unknown. "
Bai Shenghao, senior analyst at market research firm Counterpoint Research, said that the $3499 pricing indicates that the Apple Vision Pro is not aimed at ordinary consumers, but rather at professional users and content developers. The eye tracking and gesture tracking system of this product makes human-computer interaction more natural, eliminating the operation mode of the controller, and can lead the future development of XR products. "Although Vision Pro is unlikely to have a disruptive impact on the consumer market in terms of sales in the short term, it undoubtedly sets a new industry benchmark and injects strong momentum into the development of the XR industry."
IDC China Senior Analyst Zhao Siquan analyzed to reporters that the release of Vision Pro will to some extent guide the changing trend of domestic manufacturers' MR new products, while reducing production costs in the industrial chain and attracting larger scale content developers.