Ahead of iPhone X launch, China vendors cut prices of iPhone 8

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Chinese vendors have slashed the price of Apple’s iPhone 8 by up to a fifth in a bid to lure customers amid sluggish demand ahead of the launch of the tech giant’s much-anticipated iPhone X on Friday.

Buyers can now snap up the new iPhone 8 Plus and the more basic iPhone 8 models at discounts of around 14 to 20 percent in China's mainland, where iPhones have been known to change hands for as much as four times the price in Hong Kong.

The move comes as data from research firm Canalys shows Apple’s China smartphone shipments grew 40 percent in the third quarter from a year ago to 11 million units, marking the U.S. company’s best performance in China in eight quarters.

"Apple’s growth this quarter is only temporary. The high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X," said Canalys analyst Mo Jia.

Reuters Photo.

"Price cuts on earlier models after announcing the iPhone 8 have also helped. However, Apple is unlikely to sustain this growth in Q4."

Customers can now order a basic model of a 64GB iPhone 8 for 4,788 yuan (722.61 USdollars) from China’s top home appliance retailer Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd, via its online shopping platform. A more expensive iPhone 8 Plus 256GB model costs 6,888 yuan (1,039.54 US dollars).

That’s a significant reduction from the original price tags in China of 5,888 yuan and 7,988 yuan, respectively.

The basic iPhone 8 is available through e-commerce giant JD.com for 4,875 yuan (735.74 US dollars), with the expensive model costing 7,098 yuan (1,071.23 US dollars).

Apple last week countered concerns of muted demand for its iPhone X, saying pre-orders for the 10th anniversary phone were "off the charts".

Source(s): Reuters