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Chinese Retailers Offer Deep iPhone 15 Discounts 

The Apple iPhone 15 series is displayed for sale at The Grove Apple retail store on release day in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 2023. (AFP)
The Apple iPhone 15 series is displayed for sale at The Grove Apple retail store on release day in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 2023. (AFP)
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Chinese Retailers Offer Deep iPhone 15 Discounts 

The Apple iPhone 15 series is displayed for sale at The Grove Apple retail store on release day in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 2023. (AFP)
The Apple iPhone 15 series is displayed for sale at The Grove Apple retail store on release day in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 2023. (AFP)

Chinese e-commerce platforms including PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo and Alibaba's Taobao are offering deep discounts on Apple's latest iPhone 15 series, with some selling models up to 900 yuan ($123) below the retail price.

Analysts say the iPhone 15 has not been selling as well in China as its predecessor. Counterpoint Research said last week that iPhone 15 sales in China were down 4.5% versus the iPhone 14 in the first 17 days after its market launch.

Apple, Pinduoduo and Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In China, Apple will occasionally allow partner vendors to offer discounts to spur demand. But Chinese e-commerce platforms have also been locked in a "value for money" battle as consumers tighten their belts amid a slowing economy, with discounting a key focus of forthcoming annual Singles Day shopping festival.

Pinduoduo is offering the 128 GB version of the iPhone 15 Plus at 6,098 yuan, 900 yuan less than Apple's retail price of 6,999 yuan, according to checks made by Reuters.

The 512 GB iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has a 11,999 yuan price tag in Apple's store, can be bought for 10,698 yuan on Alibaba's e-commerce platform Taobao.

The e-commerce platform iPhone 15 discounts were first reported by The Economic Observer weekly newspaper on Monday.

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South Korea's SK Hynix to Invest $75 Bln by 2028 in AI, Chips

The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)
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South Korea's SK Hynix to Invest $75 Bln by 2028 in AI, Chips

The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)
The logo of SK Hynix is seen at its headquarters in Seongnam, South Korea, April 25, 2016. (Reuters)

South Korea's SK Hynix, the world no.2 memory chip maker, will invest 103 trillion won ($74.6 billion) through 2028 to strengthen its chips business, focusing on AI, its parent SK Group said on Sunday.

SK Group also said it plans to secure 80 trillion won by 2026 to invest in artificial intelligence and semiconductors as well as fund shareholder returns, while streamlining its more than 175 subsidiaries.

The sprawling conglomerate outlined the plans following a two-day strategy meeting, aiming to revive the group after SK Hynix, its main money maker, and the group's electric vehicle battery arm suffered heavy losses.

SK Group said it sought to improve its competitiveness by focusing on its AI value chain, including high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, AI data centres and AI services such as personalised AI assistants.

At a time of transition, a "preemptive and fundamental change is necessary," SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was quoted as saying in the statement

During the meeting, the executives also agreed to take gradual steps to adjust the number of subsidiaries in the group to a "manageable range", without specifying the scale of the reduction.

Local media had said SK Innovation, which owns the county's largest oil refiner and battery maker SK On, was expected to pursue a merger with profitable gas affiliate SK E&S.

The group expects its profit before tax to reach around 22 trillion won this year, turning around from a loss last year, with the goal of hitting 40 trillion won in profit before tax by 2026.

South Korea, home to the world's top memory chip makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, has fallen behind some rivals in areas such as chip design and contract chip manufacturing.

Earlier this year, the government announced a 26 trillion won ($19 billion) support package for its chip businesses, citing a need to keep up in areas like chip design and contract manufacturing amid 'all-out warfare' in the global semiconductor market.