Apple's top phones out of China's new trade-in subsidy

Most of Apple’s latest products may be left out of China’s new round of subsidies, as the country set the selling price cap of each eligible digital product at 6,000 yuan (HK$6,363).

Each consumer will be offered a subsidy of 15 percent of the selling prices when buying smartphones, tablets and smart bracelets. 

But the eligible digital products should not be sold higher than 6,000 yuan per piece, according to the details revealed by the state broadcaster CCTV.

Each consumer is allowed to buy only one piece of each eligible product type, with the subsidy of up to 500 yuan per device.

However, among Apple’s latest phone series 16, the top products 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro are priced starting from 9,999 yuan and 7,999 yuan respectively, according to the website of mainland China unit. 

Only the iPhone 16 takes a price tag of 5,999 yuan or above.

Before Beijing announced the details above, Apple China launched a rare time-limited offer of up to 800 yuan for its products.

Apple’s sales in China is under pressure. The number of activated iPhones in the fourth quarter of 2024 slumped by 17.3 percent from one year ago with a share of 17.11 percent, mainland media reported. But Huawei, Xiaomi (1810) and Vivo all recorded growth of up to 14.1 percent in phone activations. Huawei also topped among all phone sellers with a share of 18.04 percent.

(Themis Qi)

*Sales data were added at the end of the story.