Ahead of February’s Lunar New Year, Apple’s mainland China website and official stores are offering limited-time discounts of up to 1,000 yuan ($144) on select products to draw customers during the holiday shopping season, reports the South China Morning Post.
Discounted items will include iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, as well as some MacBook, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods models. The discounts will be available from January 24 to January 27.
While Apple topped the Chinese smartphone market during the fourth quarter of 2025, with a 22% share of the action due to strong iPhone 17 sales, sales have been falling lately thanks to a shrinking Chinese smartphone market, and Apple hopes to give sales a boost with the discounts.
China’s smartphone market shrank 1.6% year-on-year in Q4 2025, contributing to a full-year 2025 shipment slip of 0.6%. The decline was caused by weak demand due to rising prices and global memory shortages.
Apple is also handicapped a bit by Chinese government policies that see electronics consumers in the country getting a 15% rebate on products priced under 6,000 yuan ($820). Apple misses out on that, since its iPhone Pro models are priced above the rebate’s threshold, meaning local rivals have an edge.
