Apple has slashed the price of its iPhone 15 model to its lowest level in China, offering discounts of up to 20% on its flagship product amid fierce competition in the world’s largest smartphone market.
Online retailer Alibaba’s Tmall began offering deeper discounts on iPhone 15 models on Monday, with the top-end 256GB iPhone 15 Pro Max model selling for 7,949 yuan ($1,100), down 2,050 yuan from its previous price.
The base model 128GB iPhone 15 is 23% cheaper at 4,599 yuan, down from 5,999 yuan previously. According to both platforms, the sale will run from May 20 to May 28.
Apple’s mainland Apple stores have yet to change the latest price for the iPhone 15 model.
Aggressive discounts on two major online platforms show how much time Apple is spending to build domestic demand for its flagship product, with iPhone sales in the Greater China region falling 8% to $16.4 billion in the March quarter.
Apple’s share of the iPhone market in mainland China fell to 15.7 percent in the March quarter, down from 20.2 percent a year earlier, due to domestic competition from Chinese smartphone vendors such as Vivo, Honor and Huawei.
However, according to data published earlier this month by the Chinese Academy of Information and Communication Technology, foreign mobile phone shipments rose 12% year-on-year in March, helping Apple.