Apple "promotion", second-hand hardship

"I know that this time the government is officially involved. In the past, it was all done by the platform. But in the past three years, Apple's new phones have always been reduced in price in various ways. They are only late, not absent."

When talking about Apple's first official participation in Tmall's shopping carnival, which set a sales record of 500 million yuan in 5 hours, Liu Lei, who runs a second-hand mobile phone business in Qiqihar Longmen Digital Plaza, seemed a little helpless. He felt that compared with previous years, Apple's "price cut" this year was a little later, but it also came more suddenly.

Second-hand mobile phone dealers like Liu Lei are somewhat speechless about Apple's unprecedented participation in the 618 event. The second-hand market is bound to suffer when new phones are reduced in price, but they did not expect that this year's "suffering" would be so sudden.

Second-hand merchants urgently stopped accepting machines

"Everyone knows that the discounts on new phones will definitely affect the prices and sales of second-hand phones. But this year, Apple's price cuts left too little time for merchants to respond." Liu Lei sighed, and he admitted that the more he feared something, the more it would happen - after the Spring Festival this year, due to the impact of the epidemic, many users stayed at home playing with their phones. The demand for second-hand goods increased greatly due to the damage and replacement of mobile phones. "I also hurried to prepare the stock, hoping that I would not encounter the bad luck of last year again this year."

The bad luck he mentioned was that last year Apple lowered the prices of all its products. He learned the news about two weeks in advance, but at the same time he had just received a batch of goods. Like most second-hand mobile phone dealers, he immediately lowered the price to clear out the inventory after receiving the news, trying to relieve pressure and repatriate funds. However, the profits he should have made were almost gone.

He only heard about Apple's participation in the shopping festival (20% off) at the end of May. At this time, Liu Lei was increasing his investment and actively purchasing second-hand iPhones with good functions and good appearance. "I was still saying this. In April and May, students were all at home, and the second-hand phone business was finally better than this time last year."

In some digital markets and counters in Qiqihar, sales of Apple, Samsung, and other second-hand domestic mobile phones have shown a trend of rising in April and May, which makes him very happy. "Take Apple as an example. After the Spring Festival, the best-selling second-hand iPhones are still the 8th and 10th generations. The phones are still usable and the prices are quite affordable. Some of the phones I bought are still in new condition." Liu Lei told Dondon Notes that in May alone, the store sold 53 iPhone 8s and 26 iPhone Xs.

But in the past two days, the price cuts for new phones brought by Apple on Children's Day have appeared. In fact, on the day he heard about the official preferential policy, he stopped buying second-hand phones, and no matter whether they were Apple, Samsung or other domestic phones, he would not buy them. "Last year, Apple's price cuts caused the price of second-hand phones to fall by 5-10%. Everyone is still traumatized now."

Liu Lei said that almost all second-hand mobile phone dealers have stopped or reduced recycling of Apple's second-hand machines. Everyone is waiting and waiting for the end of the 618 event to see the price trend and sales of new iPhones before making any plans.

"It is not good news that Apple, which has always been holding back, is participating in this kind of e-commerce event. Looking at the sales on the first day, many of us feel surprised. It is estimated that the sales of second-hand machines will be hit hard in the next few months." In his opinion, the price reduction of Apple's main models will not only affect the second-hand iPhones in hand, but also have an impact on other similarly priced models such as Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, etc.

This also caused Liu Lei, who originally wanted to take advantage of the epidemic period to make a profit, to fall into endless resentment again.

So, compared with previous years, how much impact will this year's round of price cuts for new phones have on the second-hand phone market? Who are the consumers who are impulsively buying for the 20% discount?

A wave of "nail households" were harvested

"Yesterday a customer said that she ordered a brand new iPhone 11 on Tmall for only 5,058 yuan. I was shocked too."

Brother Xiong, who runs a second-hand mobile phone business at BaiNaohui in Wuxi, told Dongdong Notes that judging from the preferential policies offered by Apple in its official 618 event, taking into account the full-price reduction and discounts, the price of a 128G version of the iPhone 11 is nearly RMB 1,000 cheaper than the original official price.

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"Currently in the market, a newer 128G version of the iPhone 11 sold in China costs around 4,300 yuan, which is only 700 yuan cheaper than the official promotional price. Moreover, it is an activated second-hand product, so it is not competitive..." He feels that many customers who want to buy an iPhone 11 recently may have gritted their teeth and paid an additional 700 yuan to buy a new phone.

Xiong said that the discounts offered by Apple in the 618 event are indeed very attractive to customers who have limited budgets but are used to using Apple phones. In the past, there was always a group of customers who would go to the second-hand market to look for new phones at a lower price half a year after the launch of new Apple phones.

"Because at this time, many second-hand iPhones have not been overused, they are in very new condition and are more affordable." At this time, the price of a recharged iPhone is often one thousand yuan cheaper than a new iPhone, which is also suitable for the needs of this type of customers. However, this year's official drama of Apple has made everyone feel that it is impossible to buy second-hand goods.

Brother Xiong emphasized that the price of Apple's new phones on Tmall has almost wiped out the advantages of buying a new phone. Some users who originally planned to buy a new Apple phone may not be able to resist the temptation of such a discount.

"What about those users who have just bought new phones? They have become leeks. They can only comfort themselves by saying that they bought it a few days earlier and enjoyed it a few days earlier." In addition to the best-selling iPhone 11, Xiong Ge also revealed that Apple's unprecedented price cuts are also very tempting to some "nail households."

The so-called "diehards" among Apple fans refer to those born in the 1980s and 1985s (also the first generation of Apple mobile phone users). They are still obsessed with early versions of Apple phones, such as iPhone 5, iPhone SE, and iPhone 6. Most of these users are not interested in full-screen phones and prefer the convenience and feel of small screens.

"Look at the new generation SE, the official promotion has already discounted it by 200 yuan, which is basically a break-even price. The 64G version is only 2,830 yuan. How can old users not be tempted?" Xiong Ge analyzed that the current price of the new generation SE 64G domestic version is about 2,450 to 2,550 yuan for a second-hand machine, and the selling price is about 2,700 yuan. Compared with the official discounted price of a new brand new phone, it has no advantage at all.

Therefore, the new generation of SE may have won the favor of a large number of "nail households". An "old customer" who has replaced the iPhone 6 battery three times in the store told Brother Xiong the day before yesterday that he finally bought a brand new SE. "This guy told me happily that although the SE screen is small, the performance is flagship-level and fully compatible with most current applications and mainstream games. Humph, you are pissing me off!"

Xiong, who was trying to find a way to have fun in the midst of adversity, joked that this round of official price cuts not only snatched away their second-hand sales, but also harvested the wallets of a round of "nail households". I believe that a large number of "nail households" who are used to using small-screen Apple machines will take advantage of the official event to buy the new generation SE. "Apple really made a good calculation this time! It took into account both old and new users."

So, apart from the joy of Apple fans, what is the impact of this price cut on second-hand phone users in the Android camp?

Users may return to iOS in large numbers

"Sales of 500 million in just a few hours prove that Apple phones are not unsalable, but that the price was too high before."

A Qiang, who just moved his Yimi counter from Huaqiang North to Huaqiang South a week ago, has been doing second-hand mobile phone wholesale and retail business in Shenzhen for nearly ten years. He claims to have witnessed the process of Apple mobile phones from birth to popularity, "However, in recent years, due to the rise of Xiaomi, Huami, OV, some Apple users have turned to the Android camp, especially civil servants and business people."

But in his opinion, it is not that the practicality and smoothness of Android phones have surpassed Apple, but that Apple phones are getting more and more expensive, and as soon as the new phones are on the market, the old machines start to lag, which hurts the hearts of many old users.

He remembers that when the iPhone 10 was first launched, some versions broke the 10,000 yuan threshold for smartphones, making many consumers feel that it was out of reach. "It just so happened that Android phones were very cheap at that time, and the performance and cost-effectiveness of domestic phones began to show their advantages."

In the past two years, when chatting with some customers, Aqiang found that some people are not used to the operation and UI of the Android system after switching to the Android camp. They often miss the "closed" and smooth iOS system and criticize the old problem that the Android system becomes slower and slower. "In the past two years, the optimization of domestic mobile phones has also made great progress, but it still cannot completely surpass the Apple system."

A Qiang told Don Don Notes that in the past, users thought buying an iPhone flagship was a symbol of face and status, but in the past two years, this mentality has faded, and many people just want to use it for convenience. He analyzed that Apple seems to be adjusting its pricing strategy and trying to regain market share by lowering prices. "This price cut has a significant impact on large dealers and other channels, including second-hand machines," A Qiang said. Large dealers with contracts buy from Apple at a discount of 6 to 7 points on the official price, and there will also be rebates at the end of the year. "They are relatively better off. Small unauthorized dealers or those of us who sell second-hand products have to survive this promotion period. Business will definitely be difficult during this period."

Recently, many merchants in Huaqiangnan Market have been very cautious when purchasing second-hand Android phones. Some merchants even said that they only accept Xiaomi and Huawei, and do not accept other brands. The reason may be that they are worried that after Apple's official price cut promotion, some young users will return to the iOS camp from the Android camp, which may cause the second-hand Android phones in their hands to be unsalable.

A Qiang speculates that the price of second-hand Apple and Android phones will follow suit and drop, which will cause a sharp drop in the prices of second-hand phones from niche brands such as Meizu, OnePlus, and MoTo, and sales will also be seriously hindered.

"In short, you should sell the goods you have as soon as possible and don't worry about how much money you can make. Let's also put the collection of old machines on hold and wait and see how the situation develops." A Qiang said with a sigh.

【Conclusion】

At the end of 2019, iPhone 11 achieved a sales rebound in the global market with its lower pricing mechanism, proving the "true fragrance theorem" for the first time. Relevant public data shows that after the iPhone 11 was launched at a low price, its sales (year-on-year) increased by 310%.

Therefore, the domestic mobile phone industry has paid close attention to Apple's first participation in the e-commerce 618 event with such a large discount. In a zero-sum game, the increase in iPhone sales is bound to come from the reduction in other brands. The impact of this e-commerce promotion on the domestic second-hand mobile phone market is self-evident. Second-hand mobile phone merchants, who have been "hurt" by Apple's intentional or unintentional price cuts in the past two years, have once again fallen into a rigid wait-and-see state.