On January 15th, Apple's official website launched the "Spring Festival limited time discount" - announcing that it will start from January 18th to 21st. It mentioned that multiple Apple products will be discounted, with a maximum price reduction of 800 yuan. Therefore, on that day, many Apple users protested on social media platforms, claiming that the promotion would be unfair to consumers who had previously purchased at the original price and would require a refund or price difference.
A reporter from Nandouwan Finance News Agency noticed that there were media reports on the same day that Apple responded to this matter: the price difference can be refunded, but the conditions for refunding the price difference need to meet "the equipment purchased after January 4th, one-time payment or 12 installment payment, and the specific situation of offline purchase needs to consult the store."
Regarding this, Lawyer Xiao Jinyang from Guangdong Hebang Law Firm told Nandouwan Finance News that Apple's adjustment of prices for goods and services is a market behavior and does not violate legal provisions. The sales contract between the consumer and Apple has been fulfilled and the purpose of the contract has been achieved. The consumer's demand for termination of the contract on the grounds of price reduction is insufficient and lacks the corresponding right to terminate. They should bear the adverse consequences of the contract not being able to be terminated.
However, at around 20:00 on the evening of January 15th, a reporter from Nandouwan Finance Society noticed a Guangdong netizen claiming, "The price difference has been successfully applied for."
Apple's "Family Bucket" Price Reduction on Hot Search
On January 15th, a reporter from Nandouwan Finance News Agency noticed that Apple's official website had launched a promotional notice - announcing the launch of the "Spring Festival limited time discount" from January 18th to 21st, which mentioned that multiple Apple products would experience price reductions and the latest iPhone 15 series models would be added for the first time. On that day, the entry "Rare Big Price Reduction on Apple's Official Website" even topped the trending list on Weibo.
According to the information on the Apple page, purchasing specified products using eligible payment methods during this event can save up to 800 yuan. A reporter from Nandouwan Financial News Agency found that the products participating in the price reduction event involve multiple product categories such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Among them, when purchasing iPhone 15 series, iPhone 14/14 Plus, and iPhone 13, you can get a discount of up to 500 yuan. When choosing iPad Pro, iPad Air, 10th generation iPad, and iPad mini, you can save up to 400 yuan. The biggest discounts are on Mac products, including 13/15 inch MacBook Air (M2 model) and 13 inch MacBook Air (M1 model), which can save up to 800 yuan.
A reporter from Nandouwan Finance News Agency noticed that during the same period last year, Apple launched a New Year's price reduction campaign on its official website in China, specifying that Apple products can save up to 1000 yuan. However, at that time, the latest series of Apple phones did not participate in the event.
Compared to previous events, this year's New Year's Eve event saw Apple significantly increase its iPhone inventory and introduce the latest iPhone 15 series models for the first time.
Users call on Apple's official website to make up for the price difference
It is worth noting that many Apple users protested on social media that day, claiming that the promotion would be unfair to consumers who had previously purchased at the original price and that they needed to "refund" or "make up for the price difference.". According to media reports on the same day, Apple responded that it is possible to refund the price difference, but the conditions for refunding the price difference must meet the following requirements: "For devices purchased after January 4th, one-time payment or payment in 12 installments, the specific situation of offline purchases needs to be consulted with the store."
The above-mentioned January 4th happens to be within 14 days before the start of the limited time discount for welcoming the Chinese New Year. According to the "Return and Exchange Policy" on Apple's official website, users can perform self-service return operations in their personal account within 14 days from the date of product delivery. If the user picks up the product through an Apple retail store, they can also return it to the Apple retail store where they picked it up.
On that day, a reporter from Nandouwan Finance Society consulted Apple customer service regarding this matter. Apple customer service stated that there is currently no policy for refunding or compensating price differences. But if it meets the relevant conditions, it can be returned and repurchased within 14 days.
However, a reporter from Nandouwan Finance News noticed that according to the "Pricing and Price Reduction/Price Correction" section on Apple's official website, Apple reserves the right to change the prices of products displayed in the Apple Store at any time, and Apple has the right to correct any unintentional pricing errors. If Apple reduces the price of any Apple branded product within 14 calendar days from the date the consumer receives the product, please call 400-666-8800 to contact the Apple contact center and request a refund of the difference between the price paid by the consumer and the current selling price, or in exchange for a deduction. Consumers must contact Apple within 14 calendar days after the price change in order to receive a refund or deduction.
Lawyer's statement: Apple's price reduction did not violate legal regulations
A netizen has successfully applied for price difference compensation
Regarding the call from netizens for Apple to "refund" or "make up for the price difference", lawyer Xiao Jinyang from Guangdong Hebang Law Firm told Nandouwan Finance News that Apple's adjustment of product and service prices is a market behavior and does not violate legal provisions. "If Apple raises prices, does it have the right to demand consumers who have just completed or even completed transactions earlier to make up for the price difference? Obviously, the answer is no."
Lawyer Xiao Jinyang stated that the sales contract between the consumer and Apple has been fulfilled and the purpose of the contract has been achieved. The consumer's demand for termination of the contract on the grounds of price reduction is insufficient, and lacks the corresponding right to terminate. Therefore, they should bear the adverse consequences of the contract being unable to be terminated. "If at the time of signing the purchase agreement, Apple makes a commitment to implement insurance for a certain period of time. Within the specified time period, if Apple violates the insurance commitment, consumers naturally have the right to protect their rights."
In addition, Lawyer Xiao Jinyang also stated that when operators carry out promotional and price reduction activities, they should truthfully, accurately, clearly and prominently display the activity information, and shall not use false commercial information, fictitious transactions or evaluations to make false or misleading commercial propaganda, deceive or mislead consumers or relevant public.
A reporter from Nandouwan Finance News Agency noticed that according to the "Pricing and Price Reduction/Price Correction" content on Apple's official website, it is also mentioned that "please note that this policy does not apply to limited time price reductions, such as price reductions during special sales events such as Red Friday."
The Apple customer service did not respond to the Nandouwan Financial News Agency reporter regarding whether the "New Year limited time discount" belongs to "limited time price reduction" or "special sales activity".
It is worth mentioning that at around 20:00 on the evening of January 15th, a reporter from Nandouwan Finance Society noticed a Guangdong netizen claiming, "The price difference has been successfully applied for."
Can price reduction promotions save Apple sales?
Industry insiders have stated that the reason why Apple's limited time promotion for the Chinese New Year has sparked heated discussions is because it has added the latest model - the iPhone 15 series - for the first time. According to Apple's previous sales style, the new phone series usually only lowers prices after the Spring Festival or during the 618 period of the following year. Even discounts mostly appear on third-party platforms, and the official website prices have remained firm.
However, since its release at last autumn's press conference, the price of the iPhone 15 series has been continuously "falling": On January 15th, JD.com told a reporter from Nandouwan Finance News that it is currently launching an Apple promotion - the iPhone 15 is directly reduced by 800 yuan, the iPhone 15 Pro is directly reduced by 600 yuan, and official channels such as iPad/MacBook/Apple Watch have the lowest prices. Offline third-party merchants have stated that the current price reduction for the iPhone 15 series is between 1100 and 1400 yuan, and "the prices vary every day."
However, even so, iPhone sales have not seen an increase. In the fourth quarter of 2023, although Apple still ranked first in the Chinese mobile phone market with 15.0116 million activation units, the activation volume for the entire quarter decreased by 10.6% year-on-year. In December, it was only 0.18% lower than the second ranked Xiaomi, and the gap between Xiaomi and Huawei was quickly narrowed, posing a challenge to its first position. This was mainly due to the continued hot sales of domestic high-end flagship phones such as Xiaomi 14 series and Huawei Mate60 series, which seriously impacted the sales of iPhone 15 series.
In fact, since the release of iPhone 15, there have been few highlights and low performance improvements, and the iPhone 15 series has been plagued by frequent issues since its release, which has repeatedly caused consumer dissatisfaction. Previously, the reporter from Nandu Bay Financial News Agency learned that the quality problems complained about on the iPhone 15 series include but are not limited to the serious fever of the new machine, the "burning screen" of the iPhone 15 series, and the fingerprint easily left on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models due to the use of titanium metal. These problems have been hot searched on microblog, and have received a lot of roast on social media.
Looking at the new domestic brand products in the past six months, following Huawei's launch of the Mate 60 Pro with "mobile direct satellite" service, similar products have also been released by companies such as OPPO and Honor. However, Apple's "satellite function" has not been used in China for a long time.
In addition, during the era of "Hundred Model Wars", Apple's AI functions have also not been seen to this day, while domestic brands have begun to launch various "big model" functions one after another. Previously, vivo had already installed its self-developed AI Blue Heart big model on new products. On January 8th of this year, OPPO released its flagship model Find X7 series, which for the first time applied the self-developed large model AndesGPT to mobile devices. On January 10th, Honor released the MagicOS 8.0 operating system and self-developed AI model "Magic Model" at the developer conference
As a result, recently, analysts at investment bank Jefferies stated in a report that despite significant price reductions on major Chinese e-commerce platforms, including the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone sales still decreased by 30% in the first week of the new year compared to the same period last year. Jeffrey analysts believe that Apple's decline in sales is mainly attributed to fierce competition from local Chinese brands.
Recently, brokerage firms Barclays Research and Piper Sandler successively downgraded Apple's stock rating, and both investment banks are not optimistic about iPhone sales this year. Barclays analysts wrote, "Over the past year, most of Apple's quarterly performance has not met expectations, but its stock price has performed better than other companies. We expect this situation to change." The analyst also pointed out that the performance of the new iPhone 15 was mediocre, with sales and configurations falling short of expectations, and it is expected that the iPhone 16 will do the same, as it does not have more attractive features or upgrades.