Apple joins China's subsidy programme: market protection with discounts

Apple has officially joined the Chinese government's consumer electronics subsidy programme to boost domestic consumption, reports the South China Morning Post. The move can be seen as both a market adaptation and a strategic attempt by the US technology giant to strengthen its position in an increasingly competitive environment. Under the programme, shoppers in the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai can now get direct discounts on certain Apple products.

Under the scheme, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches priced below 6,000 yuan can be purchased for up to 500 yuan, while some MacBooks can be purchased for up to 2,000 yuan. The discounts are only valid below a certain threshold, so premium models, which are typically higher priced, are still outside the scope of the scheme. The way to buy also varies from city to city: in Beijing, the support is available at the online Apple Store, while in Shanghai it is only available at physical Apple stores.

Although Apple products have already been included in the support scheme through certain e-commerce platforms in China, this is the first time the company has joined the official programme through its own sales channels. This decision suggests that the company is no longer relying solely on its brand name and technological advantages to establish a presence in China, but is also ready to respond to pressure from local competitors such as Huawei and Xiaomi, who have been able to leverage state support more effectively.

According to market data, the changing economic environment and the strengthening of local brands have not favoured Apple, with iPhone shipments down 9% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. In contrast, Xiaomi and Huawei grew by nearly 40% and 10% respectively. According to IDC analysts, Apple's previous pricing did not fit the terms of the subsidy programme, missing out on market opportunities that gave its competitors an advantage.

However, the rebate scheme is not a complete solution for Apple. Although the discounted models include entry-level iPhone 15 and 16 devices, the company's premium offering, which is a mainstay of profitability, still does not fall into the subsidised category. This is particularly challenging at a time when competitors are responding faster to local demand, not only in price but also in technological innovation.

Apple, for example, recently announced one of the biggest software upgrades in its history, Apple Intelligence, an artificial intelligence-based service. However, this development is not yet available to Chinese users as it has not yet received the necessary regulatory approvals. This further widens the gap between Apple and Chinese manufacturers who already offer integrated AI functionality in their products.

Apple's current participation in the Chinese state aid programme can be seen as a pragmatic step. It is a signal that the company is ready to adapt in a market where the economic outlook and consumer behaviour are changing rapidly. However, it is questionable whether partial price reductions will be sufficient to ensure long-term competitiveness. Market trends suggest that not only price but also technological localisation and proactive adaptation to the regulatory environment will play a key role in the future. 

Share this post
After a Historic Turn, SK Hynix Becomes the New Market Leader in the Memory Industry
For three decades, the name Samsung was almost synonymous with leadership in the DRAM market. Now, however, the tables have turned: in the first half of 2025, South Korea’s SK Hynix surpassed its rival in the global memory industry for the first time, ending a streak of more than thirty years. This change signifies not just a shift in corporate rankings but also points to a deeper transformation across the entire semiconductor industry.
A Brutal Quarter for Apple, but What Comes After the iPhone?
Amid global economic and trade challenges, Apple has once again proven its extraordinary market power, surpassing analyst expectations in the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year. The Cupertino giant not only posted record revenue for the period ending in June but also reached a historic milestone: the shipment of its three billionth iPhone. This achievement comes at a time when the company is grappling with the cost of punitive tariffs, intensifying competition in artificial intelligence, and a series of setbacks in the same field.
China’s Own GPU Industry Is Slowly Awakening
“7G” is an abbreviation that sounds almost identical to the word for “miracle” in Chinese. Whether this is a lucky piece of marketing or a true technological prophecy remains to be seen. What Lisuan Technology is presenting with the 7G106—internally codenamed G100—is nothing less than the first serious attempt to step out of Nvidia and AMD’s shadow. No licensing agreements, no crutches based on Western intellectual property—this is a GPU built from scratch, manufactured using 6 nm DUV technology in a country that is only beginning to break free from the spell of Western technology exports.
Double Game Around Chips
One of the most crucial areas of global development in artificial intelligence is the manufacturing and export of high-tech chips. In recent years, the intensifying competition between the United States and China has become increasingly significant, not only from a technological standpoint but also geopolitically. Recently, the U.S. government partially eased its previous restrictions on the export of NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips to China. While at first glance this may appear to be a loosening of the technological blockade, the reality is considerably more nuanced.
What Does the Rise of DiffuCoder and Diffusion Language Models Mean?
A new approach is now fundamentally challenging this linear paradigm: diffusion language models (dLLMs), which generate content not sequentially but globally, through iterative refinement. But are they truly better suited to code generation than the well-established AR models? And what insights can we gain from DiffuCoder, the first major open-source experiment in this field?
Apple's New AI Models Can Understand What’s on Your Screen
When we look at our phone's display, what we see feels obvious—icons, text, and buttons we’re used to. But how does artificial intelligence interpret that same interface? This question is at the heart of joint research between Apple and Finland’s Aalto University, resulting in a model called ILuvUI. This development isn’t just a technical milestone; it’s a major step toward enabling digital systems to truly understand how we use applications—and how they can assist us even more effectively.