Chinese iPhone sales up 16% in June shopping festival, thanks to hefty discounts

Chinese iPhone sales got a welcome boost last month thanks to Apple’s decision to participate in one of the country’s annual ‘shopping festivals.’

The 618 Shopping Festival peaks around June 18, with many retailers and ecommerce firms offering significant discounts …

The festival started back in 2004 as an anniversary promotion for online retailer JD.com, but South China Morning Post notes that it has since become a huge cross-retailer event.

Starting this week, Chinese netizens have been bombarded with online promotions promising them a share of billions of yuan in shopping subsidies, and offers of refunds if they find a better price on another e-commerce platform.

It is all part of “618” – an event that began as a simple June 18 anniversary promotion for online retailer JD.com in 2004, but has since grown into a huge midyear shopping extravaganza embraced by all the major e-commerce platforms vying for a piece of the consumer wallet.

Apple first opted to take part last year, and was clearly pleased by the results as it did so again this year. Counterpoint Research reports.

The company’s sales increased 16% YoY during this edition, taking it to the fourth spot driven by strong promotion activities. The iPhone12, for instance, was being offered by China’s major online retailers at discounts of more than RMB1000 ($155).

The promotion isn’t the only factor at play: all smartphone brands in China are benefiting from Huawei’s decline.

We learned yesterday that global sales of the iPhone 12 crossed 100M, almost matching the performance of the iPhone 6, which set new records through pent-up demand for iPhones with larger screens.

According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, iPhone 12 sales crossed the 100 million unit mark in April 2021, two months earlier than the iPhone 11 and nearly in line with the iPhone 6.

There was also good news for the Apple Watch last month, as regulatory approval was finally granted for the ECG feature, boosting the functionality of the device and likely increasing demand.

China has officially approved the Apple Watch electrocardiogram (ECG) feature that first arrived with the Series 4 wearable. The regulatory green light means Apple could launch the functionality with a software update for users in the country any time now.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: