iPhone 15 is not doing so well in China, as resellers offer hefty discounts

The iPhone 15 lineup launched almost six months ago, and the devices have been received pretty well in the North American market.

However, the iPhone 15 continues to face immense pressure in the Chinese market due to fierce competition.

It is now being reported that resellers in China are offering hefty discounts on the iPhone 15 models to boost demand in the region. While the discounts are not specifically from Apple, resellers are driving demand by lowering the price by as much as $180, according to Bloomberg.

As mentioned, the iPhone 15 has fierce competition from Android smartphone manufacturers in China. While there are several reasons why the demand for the iPhone is low, it mainly boils down to a lack of innovation and the absence of AI features. The company has offered more or less an identical design for years while the competition is jumping on the foldable bandwagon. Samsung and Oppo are the leading brands, with Huawei squeezing in with its latest flagships.

Alibaba’s Tmall is offering hefty discounts on flagship smartphones to drive sales. However, the discount is less than $120, which Apple offered in the same time frame last year. Apple also offered hefty discounts on its website for the Lunar New Year holiday in February. However, the discounts have now reverted to their original pricing model on Apple’s website. Users can still avail the discounts through third-party resellers.

Third-party resellers offering hefty discounts on the iPhone 15 lineup clearly indicate that the iPhone 15 models are struggling to go off shelves in China. The demand for the devices is less than last year as Apple’s sales in China dropped by 13 percent, translating to $20.8 billion for the last quarter. Analysts had previously speculated that the demand for the iPhone 15 would gather as much as $23 billion.

While lack of innovation is one aspect of why demand for the iPhone 15 is low, Apple is also quite late to the AI game. The company is currently working on a boatload of generative AI features for the iPhone, which could prove to be a step in the right direction. Companies like Samsung have already adopted the technology in its latest Galaxy S24 series, and it remains to be seen how users in China would reflect on Apple’s rendition.