Abstract:
On September 18, Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro series will be released. At around 8 a.m., a reporter from China Business News saw a scalper posting a picture on WeChat Moments, indicating that he had arrived at the entrance of an Apple store. At around 9 o'clock, the reporter came to the entrance of an Apple flagship store in Shenzhen and saw more than 20 consumers queuing to pick up the goods. There were about 20 scalpers at the door, and some people gathered around to inquire.
▲People queuing in front of the Apple Shenzhen Qianhai Yifangcheng store. Photo by China Business News reporter Zheng Xutong
On the day Apple's iPhone is released, the sales of the new series of iPhones can be roughly judged from the price received by scalpers. The reporter learned that because the iPhone 18 Pro series has increased in price compared to the previous generation, scalpers did not increase the price much when receiving the goods. Many scalpers even said that they would only accept the iPhone 18 Pro Max and not the iPhone 18 Pro.
The scalpers’ price increase is less
China Business News reporters learned from multiple scalpers that they mainly purchase new phones from consumers who have just received the goods, and then resell them to their own customers.
Behind the scalpers’ receipt of goods is the shortage of iPhone 18 Pro series. Staff at Apple’s flagship store reported that except for the goods that have been reserved by users who have come to pick them up, there is no stock in the store. If you are now pre-ordering the iPhone 18 Pro series, you will have to wait in line until the end of October to pick them up. The reporter located the Nanshan District of Shenzhen on Apple’s official website and saw that the delivery time for multiple iPhone 18 Pro Max models after pre-ordering was October 20.
Many scalpers reported that currently, the market for new Apple phones this year is not particularly good. It is mainly reflected in the receiving price. The price of iPhone 18 Pro Max is increased by about 500 yuan. The reporter made an on-site inquiry and learned that there are scalpers who only charge an additional 400 yuan for the 512GB storage version of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and only increase the price by 500 yuan when the storage capacity reaches 1T. Many scalpers do not differentiate pricing for different color versions, but some scalpers have reported that red and blue prices are relatively better.
The reporter learned that scalpers’ price increase for iPhone 18 Pro Max is much lower than last year’s iPhone 17 Pro Max. Some scalpers reported that the price increase for iPhone 17 Pro Max last year could reach 600 yuan to 700 yuan, and some scalpers even said that some models could be increased by 800 yuan.
Why is the iPhone 18 Pro Max price increase not as high as last year? Some scalpers said that last year, the 1TB version of iPhone 17 Pro Max was 2,000 yuan more expensive than the 512GB version. This year, the 1TB version of iPhone 18 Pro Max was more than 3,000 yuan more expensive than the 512GB version. As the storage capacity increases, the official price increase is too much. "The price is too expensive, and adding more prices won't add much." Some scalpers concluded.
▲Scalpers in front of Apple’s Shanghai Qibao Link Exhibition Plaza store. Photo by Ren Yuming, China Business Photographer
Compared with the iPhone 17 Pro series, the price of the iPhone 18 Pro series has increased by no less than 1,000 yuan. Among them, the iPhone 18 Pro starts at 9,999 yuan and has a minimum storage configuration of 256GB, which is 1,000 yuan higher than the iPhone 17 Pro with the same storage capacity. The iPhone 18 Pro with 1TB configuration is priced at 15,499 yuan, which is a price increase of 2,500 yuan compared to the previous generation product with the same storage configuration. The iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at 10,999 yuan, and the same storage configuration is 1,000 yuan to 3,500 yuan more expensive than the previous generation.
Compared to iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18 Pro’s market situation is even worse. The reporter learned on the spot that around 9 o'clock, many scalpers refused to accept the iPhone 18 Pro, saying that it was "not marketable." Some scalpers even predicted that the iPhone 18 Pro might "break out" (fall below the launch price). Around 10 a.m., some scalpers began to ask if the iPhone 18 Pro was in stock, saying that they would only accept the 256GB version at a price increase of only 50 yuan.
▲People queuing in front of the Apple Shanghai Qibao Link Plaza store. Photo by China Business News reporter Ren Yuming
Online prices "break"
On online platforms, the prices of the iPhone 18 Pro series have also experienced a drop.
The iPhone 18 Pro series started pre-sales on September 12. As the first batch of supplies was quickly consumed, some consumers turned to other purchase channels. According to Dewu data, shortly after pre-sales started, the prices of the iPhone 18 Pro Max 256GB burgundy red and silver versions increased by 1,800 yuan and 3,000 yuan respectively. The average transaction price of the iPhone 18 Pro 256GB burgundy red and silver versions was about 1,000 yuan higher than the original price.
Three days later, data from the platform showed that the average market transaction price of multiple iPhone 18 Pro Max versions fell significantly. The average transaction price of iPhone 18 Pro Max 256GB glacier blue dropped from 13,999 yuan to 11,530 yuan, a decrease of 2,469 yuan, while the average transaction price of 256GB silver dropped from 13,999 yuan to 11,806 yuan, a decrease of 2,193 yuan.
In addition, on September 14, the iPhone 18 Pro series "broke" on the e-commerce platform shortly after opening pre-sales. For example, the Taobao platform page shows that the Apple/Apple iPhone 18 Pro in the official flagship store of China Mobile’s Tmall mobile phone store has a “direct discount of 300 yuan on purchase”, and the store advertises an event where mobile users can enjoy 300 yuan in mobile phone calls when placing an order.
The tens-billion subsidy page of the Pinduoduo platform also shows that the original price of the Apple iPhone 18 Pro 5G dual-SIM dual-standby mobile phone 256G with an original price of 9,999 yuan is 9,699 yuan. At the same time, the platform issues a 600 yuan store coupon, and the final order price can be as low as 9,099 yuan, which is a 900 yuan reduction from the official launch price. On September 18, reporters saw on Pinduoduo that the iPhone 18 Pro product that participated in the tens of billions of subsidy activities still showed that the price after grabbing coupons was only 9,099 yuan. From 2024 to now, Apple’s new phones have been “breaking the market as soon as they are launched” on the Pinduoduo platform for three consecutive years.
However, the performance of the new iPhone market depends not only on the iPhone 18 Pro series, but also on the performance of the standard iPhone 18 and the first foldable screen phone iPhone Duo. Apple has not yet released the standard version of iPhone 18, and iPhone Duo will be released on October 23. Different versions of this folding screen are priced between 15,999 yuan and 26,499 yuan, making it the most expensive mobile phone in Apple’s history.
Shortly after the iPhone Duo was released, scalpers started buying it up. According to the second-hand trading platform Xianyu, the price increase of iPhone Duo is generally around 5,000 yuan, and the minimum price increase is more than 1,000 yuan. On September 18, reporters saw on Xianyu that the prices of iPhone Duo preemption services released by many merchants had fallen below 1,000 yuan, and some were lower than 500 yuan.
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