A large number of customers queue up to experience Apple's new products on September 22, 2023, in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province. Photo: VCG

The price of Apple's newly-released iPhone 15 series saw a sharp drop on China's e-commerce platforms, at a time when the annual "Double Eleven" online shopping spree draws near.

While it is possibly part of some platforms' promotion acts, it partly reflects the declining attraction of iPhones in the Chinese mainland market, one industry analyst said, noting that Apple needs more innovation to stabilize demand in the world's second-largest consumer market.

On Pinduoduo.com, the price of iPhone 15 with memory storage capacity of 128GB is priced at 5,198 yuan ($710.33) after discount, which is lower than Apple's official retail price of 5,999 yuan. 

On Alibaba's e-commece arm Taobao.com, consumers could buy an iPhone 15 with the same configuration at 5,399 yuan.

Pinduoduo kicked off this year's "Double 11" promotion on Friday, while JD.com is set to launch the event on Monday and Taobao on Tuesday.

On Monday, "iPhone 15 series price slump" became a trending topic on social media Weibo, generating about 270 million views. Some netizens posted that poor signal issue of iPhones and lack of innovation made the iPhone 15 series less attractive than its previous models.

"Although the price reduction may be some channel vendors' move to boost sales during the 'Double 11,' it reflects the declining attraction of iPhones," Ma Jihua, a Beijing-based industry analyst, told the Global Times on Monday.

In comparison, the popularity of Huawei's Mate 60 smartphones, released almost at the same period, is outpacing iPhone 15 series, he said, noting that the consumers now still have to scramble for a Huawei Mate 60 or pay higher prices to get one.

Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook made his second visit to China this year, highlighting the importance of the Chinese mainland market to the tech giant while acknowledging Apple's growth pressure in the market, Ma said.

On the one hand, Apple faces fierce competition from local competitors such as Huawei, OPPO and Xiaomi. On the other hand, "Apple's innovation is waning, " Ma said, noting that Apple has to do more to stabilize market demand in China.

In China, iPhone 15 series sales for the first 17 days of sales dropped 4.5 percent compared with iPhone 14 series, according to industry data provider Counterpoint Research.

Global Times