Recently, Xiaomi’s 14 Series made its offline debut with a starting price of 3999 yuan, and Xiaomi’s founder and chairman, Lei Jun, stated that this would be the last time the Xiaomi Digital Series flagship is priced at this level.
Journalists visited several offline stores in Beijing and found that many of the Xiaomi 14 Series phones at Xiaomi stores had undergone restocking for the second time, with only a few storage and color options still available. The titanium version of the Xiaomi 14 Pro was not displayed in the stores.
Despite being two months past the release date, the Huawei Mate 60 Series remains challenging to obtain, with waiting times for pre-orders exceeding two months. Huawei’s offline store staff even mentioned that the extraordinary Master Edition pre-orders couldn’t provide specific delivery dates.
The recently released OPPO Find N3 Series products in offline stores have all storage configurations in stock, and store staff have stated that there won’t be any price reductions until the New Year.
Major e-commerce platforms have offered discounts and subsidies for the iPhone 15 Series products, with Apple’s official store on Tmall also participating in the “Double 11” event, offering various products with different levels of discounts.
Some analysts have suggested that despite third-quarter data not showing a warming trend in the domestic smartphone market, consumer demand has significantly increased, making “Double 11” a good opportunity to revive the market.
Xiaomi 14 Series Sold Out in Offline Pre-orders
Compared to its predecessor, the Xiaomi 14 can be considered as “more for less.” The Xiaomi 13 was initially priced at 3999 yuan with an 8GB+128GB configuration, while the Xiaomi 14 starts at 8GB+256GB. Lei Jun mentioned that this would be the last time the Xiaomi Digital Series is priced at 3999 yuan.
Journalists visited several Xiaomi stores in Beijing, where employees stated that they are still accepting pre-orders, but the delivery times might extend beyond “Double 11.” Some stores ran out of pre-order slots after the launch event, and the current stock in stores is the second batch of deliveries.
A Xiaomi store employee, Liu Yang (pseudonym), told the reporter, “The first batch of devices in the store has all been pre-ordered, and the second batch is relatively limited. The machines available now are only in 1TB and 256GB configurations. The first batch of online deliveries is scheduled for after November 6th, and only consumers who pre-ordered offline can get their devices today.”
According to the reporter’s observations, the Xiaomi 14 Series is currently available for purchase on the JD.com e-commerce platform and is not out of stock. However, the online delivery time has been extended to mid-November.
On Tmall, the Xiaomi 14 Series is still in the pre-sale phase, and the delivery time has also been extended to early November, with only storage configurations below 256GB available for pre-order.
In third-party used goods trading platforms, some sellers listed the Xiaomi 14 Series products after the product launch event, and there was no price markup. In fact, some sellers even lowered the prices by 100-200 yuan, while the titanium alloy version had a general premium of around 500 yuan.
Despite being nearly two months since its release, the Huawei Mate 60 Series remains challenging to obtain and comes with a certain premium on second-hand trading platforms.
A Beijing Huawei offline store employee, Liu Gang (pseudonym), informed the reporter, “Currently, the entire Huawei Mate 60 Series is out of stock. If you register now, you’ll have to wait for approximately 2-3 months for stock to arrive. As for the Mate X5 Series folding screen, you’ll need to wait for at least six months. As for the Mate 60 RS extraordinary master edition, it’s hard to say; even if you prepay a deposit now, there is no specific delivery date.”
When asked if purchasing other Huawei products could get you a device sooner, Liu Gang added, “Not just our store; currently, all offline stores in Beijing have no stock.”
A friend of the reporter, Wang Yu (pseudonym), suggested, “You can keep an eye on Huawei’s Smart Life Store every morning. It belongs to Huawei’s official flagship store, and if you’re lucky, you might find a device.”
The reporter’s search on e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Tmall found that official channels currently have no stock. Third-party channels generally have a markup of around a thousand yuan, and the Huawei Mate 60 Series on second-hand platforms also has a premium ranging from 200 to 500 yuan.
Apple’s Direct Stores Affected – Will “Double 11” Revive the Smartphone Market?
Most major smartphone brands, including Xiaomi, have released their new products in September and October. Vivo, which is still adjusting its business line, is the only exception that hasn’t released new products yet.
According to the latest data provided by IDC, the Chinese smartphone market had a shipment volume of approximately 67.05 million units in the third quarter of 2023, a 6.3% year-on-year decrease.
IDC’s senior analyst in China, Guo Tianxiang, pointed out that while the data from the third quarter hasn’t shown signs of improvement in the Chinese smartphone market, there has been a noticeable increase in consumer demand due to the recent surge in market activity.
Some industry insiders believe that this year’s “Double 11” will be a perfect opportunity for brands to stimulate consumer demand and revive the smartphone market. When shopping on “Double 11,” it is evident from the reporter’s visits and observations that the market performance of various brands differs significantly. Some, like Huawei and Xiaomi, have new products in high demand, while others struggle to attract attention or even experience price drops shortly after launch.
The recently released OPPO Find N3 foldable screen phone has stirred controversy due to its 9999 yuan pricing. When the reporter visited offline stores, they found that all color and version options were in stock.
An OPPO offline store employee told the reporter, “Find N3 is a recent release and will not be part of the ‘Double 11’ promotion. Moreover, there won’t be any price reductions until New Year’s. You can feel confident about buying it.”
Apple’s new iPhone 15 Series, released in the fall, has faced a polarized market since its launch: the standard and Plus versions have continuously decreased in price, while the Pro and Pro Max versions have seen order queues for certain colors and storage configurations, without any premiums on resale.
On e-commerce platforms, channels like JD.com, Suning, and Pinduoduo have introduced subsidies and discounts for the iPhone 15 Series products. Apple’s official flagship store on Tmall has also offered discounts, covering products like iPhone 14/15 and Apple Watch 9/SE.
An individual familiar with Apple’s sales system told the reporter, “While Apple’s Apple Store on Tmall is a direct store, it is still subject to Tmall’s platform rules, which is why it participates in the ‘Double 11’ promotions. You can think of this as Tmall subsidizing the prices for Apple Store. Apple’s other online platforms, such as the Apple Store on mini-programs (and the web version), will not reduce their prices.”
Counterpoint’s Senior Analyst Ivan Lam stated, “The decline in iPhone sales is due to channel price reductions happening earlier than expected, and official price adjustments have not offset this impact. Additionally, the initial supply constraints faced by the iPhone 15 series led to lower sales during its release period compared to the iPhone 14 series.” Counterpoint’s Senior Analyst Ivan Lam stated, “The decline in iPhone sales is due to channel price reductions happening earlier than expected, and official price adjustments have not offset this impact. Additionally, the initial supply constraints faced by the iPhone 15 series led to lower sales during its release period compared to the iPhone 14 series.”