Apple Cuts iPhone 16 Prices Ahead of Singles’ Day to Boost Sales

Prices Drop in Response to Sales Challenges

Apple Inc AAPL has lowered prices for its iPhone 16 models by as much as 1,600 yuan ($225) on its Alibaba Group Holding’s BABA Tmall store. This move is aimed at boosting sales during the Singles’ Day shopping festival, recognized as the largest shopping event worldwide.

Starting Monday evening, Apple introduced a 500-yuan voucher applicable on all iPhone 16 models. As per reports from SCMP, the base model iPhone 16 now begins at 5,499 yuan, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max is priced from 9,499 yuan.

These reductions come in the wake of a lackluster initial reception for the iPhone 16 on Chinese social media platforms.

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Another factor influencing the price cuts is the anticipated launch of Apple Intelligence’s on-device AI system, which will not support Chinese until next year.

Tmall has also rolled out a trade-in subsidy of up to 1,100 yuan, enabling customers to save as much as 1,600 yuan on their iPhone 16 purchases. In parallel, JD.com Inc JD is offering a complimentary AppleCare+ subscription with its base and Plus models. Furthermore, PDD Holdings Inc PDD Pinduoduo has significantly reduced prices, setting the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro Max at 9,199 yuan.

In a historical context, Huawei Technologies Co surpassed Apple in mainland smartphone sales in August for the first time in 46 months, as noted by CINNO Research.

Earlier reports suggested that Pinduoduo and Taobao were preemptively lowering prices for the iPhone 16 series, reportedly due to the absence of certain AI features essential to consumers.

Pinduoduo began selling the iPhone 16 Plus, with 512GB of storage, at a 10% discount. The 128GB iPhone 16 is discounted by 11%. Both Pinduoduo and Taobao have placed a 4% discount on the 256GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Future Outlook: Needham analyst Laura Martin estimates that the iPhone will contribute 89% to 96% of Apple’s fiscal 2025 revenue.

Apple’s stock has grown by 37% over the past year. Investors interested in gaining exposure to the company can consider the Vanguard Information Tech ETF VGT and the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF IWF.

Stock Update: As of Tuesday, AAPL stock is down 0.99%, trading at $234.13.

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Photo courtesy: Apple