For the first time in many years, Apple is offering discounts on the purchase of new iPhone smartphones in the Chinese market.

In this case, the tech giant decided to reduce the cost of the latest generation of the specified device in the mentioned Asian country on 500 yuan ($70). Such decisions are extremely rare in Apple’s policy regarding commercial aspects of its business.

Information about the discount was published on the company’s official Chinese website on Monday, January 15th. This decision was not announced separately by the technology giant in a special news format. The discount will be valid from January 18 to January 21. The decrease in the cost of the tech giant’s smartphones is timed to coincide with the Lunar New Year shopping season. The discount offered by the company is equivalent to about 5% of the cost of Apple’s flagship device.

It is extremely rare for a technology giant to make decisions about special financial conditions for the purchase of goods. The company was forced to introduce a discount offer against the background of its difficult position in the Chinese market. Competition is currently intensifying in the Asian country. Local consumers increasingly prefer products from homegrown manufacturers. As part of this trend, Huawei Technologies Co. is the main beneficiary.

Also in China, Apple faced such a problem as a ban on the use of its products in the workplace by employees of state organizations and companies received by the government of the country. The sales figures of the iPhone 15 in the Asian market turned out to be much worse than the similar results of the previous generation of the smartphone.

Jefferies analysts have warned that sales of the latest generation of the tech giant’s mobile phone in China in 2023 may show a 30% decrease in consumer interest compared to the analogical dynamic of the iPhone 14. This situation is largely because last year Huawei introduced the series of smartphones Mate 60. The peculiarity of the new development is that among its components there is a 7-nanometer chip made in China. Chinese media called this microcircuit evidence of a national breakthrough in the technology sector. Also, in this case, an important circumstance is that the United States has restricted the access of companies from an Asian country to advanced chips. Against this background, the importance of the Chinese-made 7-nanometer chip increases in the context of Beijing’s desire for technological sovereignty, which is of critical importance during a period of geopolitical tension.

Apple’s retail partners sometimes offered significant discounts on new generations of iPhones. But this has been a practice from the past for a long time, which resumed in 2023. The tech giant sometimes offered gadgets at a reduced price in the Chinese market on the eve of the Lunar New Year but has long abandoned such commercial solutions. This year, the company returned to the practice of discounts against the background of its difficult situation in the Asian country.

The discounts, which will be valid from January 18 to January 21, apply to mobile phone models from iPhone 13 to iPhone 15 Pro Max. Also, as part of a special offer for the Chinese market, the company reduces the cost of most iPad models, some AirPods and Apple Watch SE. The cost of the MacBook Air has been reduced by as much as 800 yuan.

Will Wong, senior research manager at firm IDC, says that nothing is surprising in the decision to discount the iPhone 15, noting that a similar promotion was implemented by authorized retailers of the company’s products in China and had a positive effect in terms of influencing sales figures. These measures were taken against the background of a decline in consumer interest in Apple mobile phones in the Asian country.

IDC data shows that in 2022, the tech giant’s smartphone sales in the Chinese market amounted to 285.8 million. This figure is 13.2% lower than the result for 2021. Also in 2022, sales of Apple smartphones in China for the first time in ten years amounted to less than 300 million.