As many await the official release of the much-talked about iPhone X on November 3, it seems that the 8 and 8 Plus are reportedly tanking, at least in mainland China.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, major e-commerce platforms of electrical appliance retailers are now offering large discounts to customers just to encourage orders. Suning.com, for instance, is now purportedly discounting as much as 1,100 CNY ($165.98) on the iPhone 8. Meanwhile, JD.com, which runs an authorized online Apple store, is supposedly slashing off up to 800 CNY ($120.71) on the most expensive variant priced at 7,000 CNY ($1,056.22).
"The iPhone 8 might be the most poorly sold flagship iPhone model in China, as such huge discounts have never been seen before in the country," according to Zhao Ziming, a senior analyst at Pintu Tank in Beijing, China.
Not too long ago, it was revealed that even the iPhone 7 was outselling its successor, with customers saying that the latter does not offer as much advancements compared to the former. Customers also seem to be waiting for the more expensive iPhone X, therefore causing more issues with sales.
While there hasn"t been any official figures for the iPhone 8, supply chain sources report that Apple cut orders for the handset by more than 50 percent. This could possibly record shipments of only 5 to 6 million per month by November and December.
Shipment times are becoming longer and auction bids are going higher for the iPhone X. With this in consideration, Apple could be facing a big issue in getting the iPhone 8 to appeal to customers in the future.
Source: South China Morning Post via Mashable