Apple, the U.S. smart phone giant, is cutting the prices of some of its iPhone products in China in an attempt to boost sales.
On Tuesday, Suning.com, a Chinese online retailer announced on its Sino Weibo account that it will cut up to 1,000 yuan ($149) off the prices of the popular iPhone XS. Another e-commerce platform, JD.com, also announced a price cut on the iPhone XS series. For the iPhone Xs 64G, customers will only have to pay 7,388 yuan on Suning.com, 1,311 yuan less than on Apple's own online store.
Tmall, the online retailer owned by Alibaba, also announced Tuesday evening price reductions on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max of up to 2,000 yuan.
Liu Dingding, an independent tech analyst, said the price cuts were taken to boost flagging sales in China market.
According to a report by theverge.com, Apple sales revenue fell $5 billion during the holiday quarter in 2018 to $13.2 billion in China, compared to the same period in 2017.
Apple has been criticized for setting its prices too high but lacking a real innovation in recent years. On Wednesday, Apple's iPhone glass supplier Corning confirmed to CNBC that it has been testing flexible glass, as Apple competitors, including Huawei and Samsung, have won a march on the premium brand with new "foldable" smartphones.
"It looks like Apple is lagging behind the competition, as customers now have several other alternatives such as Samsung and Huawei, which are very forward in their research and development with the introduction of 5G and flexible displays," Liu told the Global Times.
Liu also said that although the effect is limited, the trade frictions between China and the U.S. in 2018 might have also affected Chinese customers' purchasing decisions.
While Corning's recent movement may well suggest the U.S. phonemaker's attempt to catch up with the cut-throat competition, last year Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated that Apple would not have a foldable version until 2020, according to a report by CNBC last year.
