It looks like Apple may be cutting its prices for a number of iPhone models to compete in the Chinese marketplace.
A report from China’s National Business Daily says Chinese iPhone vendors received word yesterday regarding price cuts to iPhone 8, 8 Plus, XR, XS and XS Max.
The largest cut can be seen with the iPhone XR, which allegedly is seeing a 450 yuan (~$66) discount, bringing the total XR price to 5250 yuan (about $770). The majority of the iPhone models are expected to see a 400 yuan (~$59) reduction.
The report comes only after after a report stating that Apple has reduced iPhone production by an additional 10 percent for the next three months, as translated below:
“Today (January 9th) evening, our reporter was informed that on the evening of January 8, Huaqiang North channel dealers received US price adjustment information, iPhone XR, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X and iPhone XS And other products such as iPhone XS Max began to cut prices. Among them, Huaqiang North’s iPhone in the Yuanwang Digital City Wholesale Market has experienced a full-scale decline in all levels.”
In 2018, Apple released its iPhone XR models, having dropped the channel price by 450 yuan to bring the current price to 5,250 yuan.
A price cut from Apple mid-cycle is a rather rare move. Before the iPhone XR debacle, they nearly never occurred. The last major time the iPhone saw any revised pricing was with the original in 2007, when Apple cut $200 off the price just months after release.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac, National Business Daily, and Nikkei