iPhone 14 pre-orders surges in China - PingWest

iPhone 14 pre-orders surges in China

iPhone 14 pre-orders surges in China

10 hours ago

The pre-order number for Apple’s new iPhone 14 surged in China as Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com received more than 2 million orders from Chinese consumers within 24 hours after pre-orders opened.

Pre-order data shows that the iPhone 14 Pro is the best-selling model with more than 1 million pre-orders on JD, followed by Pro Max which had nearly 800,000.

At its biggest product launch of the year, Apple on last Wednesday unveiled four new models of its iPhone: the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, with prices beginning at 5,999 yuan for the mainland China market. The company also introduced fresh AirPods Pro earbuds and new Apple Watch models.

Kuo Ming-chi, an analyst at TF Securities, said on Twitter that the two Pro models accounted for about 85 per cent of all iPhone 14 pre-orders in China

Despite the large demand, Chinese consumers complained on microblogging platform Weibo that the new IPhone has a little improvement from the previous generation due to a lack of innovation

Huaqiangbei, the world’s largest electronic wholesale market locate at China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen, has seen strong demand for the new iPhone, according to local merchants.

Thousands of merchants in Huaqiangbei are busy preparing for strong sales of the new iPhone ahead of the official sales on September 16. These merchants are in urgent need of new orders as Shenzhen’s Covid controls have heavily hit their businesses, many shops remain closed dues to a lockdown in place since late August.

The iPhone 14 launch come as China smartphone shipments dropped significantly due to weak demand for smartphone consumption. According to new report from state-backed research institute the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, China’s smartphone shipments for the first six months of 2022 plummet 21.7 per cent year-on-year to 136 million units.