iPhone 14 discounts continued to rise in China, Jefferies says

E-commerce sites are giving more discounts on iPhone 14 models amid weak smartphone sales.

Discounts on iPhone 14 models across China’s major e-commerce platforms rose further in mid-May at the same time overall smartphone sales remained weak after the holidays, Jefferies found.

Its weekly price tracker showed online discounts on iPhone 14 models have breached the record highs seen in the preceding two weeks, with e-commerce giant JD raising the discount on both Pro and non-Pro models by another RMB200 to RMB300 (US$28-US$42) for the 19-21 May promo period.

JD’s discount on iPhone 14 and 14 Plus now averaged at RMB970 representing a 12% markdown from prices in the official Apple store. The average discount for iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max was at RMB1,400 or 14% of official price.

“Smartphone sales are down DD sequentially after the Labor Day holiday week, despite ongoing discounts for Android and expanding discounts for iPhone,” Jefferies said in a 21 May note. “The sequential weakness is not a good sign as iPhone 14's discount expanded further recently.”

It expects the higher discounts on iPhone 14 and 14 Plus could help boost sales as promotions for the upcoming 618 shopping festival, China’s second largest shopping event starting 18 June, will likely start soon.

For Android, the average discount has also been trending up with Chinese models Huawei P50, OPPO Find X5 and iQOO Neo 7, a Vivo brand, reporting the steepest markdowns.

Equity analysts at Jefferies were “not optimistic” on smartphone sales in the upcoming shopping festival since the heavy discounts introduced in the previous months may have prompted customers to buy earlier than 618.