Apple has slashed prices on the iPhone 17 Pro series in China by 1,000 yuan (around $138) in anticipation of the annual 618 shopping festival, one of the country's largest mid-year online retail events.
The cuts went live on Friday on JD.com and Tmall, with Apple's official store on the latter platform applying a direct 1,000-yuan discount on the iPhone 17 Pro series. On JD.com, taking into consideration trade-in offers and platform promotions, some iPhone 17 Pro models can be picked up for as low as 6,999 yuan (around $968). That's the lowest price since the device's launch, according to the Global Times.
The standard iPhone 17 also received its first notable markdown. Some configurations are now available for 4,499 yuan (around $622) including discounts, bringing it well under the 6,000-yuan threshold for China's national trade-in subsidy, which knocks 15% off qualifying devices up to a 500-yuan cap – something that customers of the Pro models miss out on.
News of Apple's price cuts quickly shot to the top of social media platform Weibo's trending list on Friday. Meanwhile, Huawei has also introduced lower prices for its high-end foldable models for the first time.
"Apple and Huawei are the two companies most closely benchmarked against each other in the high-end segment," said Liu Dingding, a technology industry analyst speaking to the Global Times. "Other brands still hold market share, but in terms of premium-market influence, the rivalry is increasingly centered on these two players."
Liu said both companies are using this year's shopping festival window to quickly lift orders and shipments while competing for a larger share of replacement demand.
Apple's iPhone 17 series has been a runaway hit in China so far. Apple reported $26 billion in Chinese revenue during its fiscal first quarter, a 38 percent year-over-year increase and the company's best-ever performance in the region. China now accounts for roughly one-fifth of Apple's total global sales.
The results are a major turnaround after nearly three years of declining sales in the country, where Apple has faced stiff competition from domestic rivals like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Vivo.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is currently on his way back home from China, following his participation in an official U.S. business delegation accompanying President Donald Trump as he met with Chinese president Xi Jinping.