Apple’s China comeback playbook now includes government-backed discounts

After a rocky stretch, Apple managed to bounce back last month with a 15% jump in iPhone sales, driven largely by renewed demand in the U.S. and China.

In China, especially, Apple had been losing ground to local brands benefiting from government subsidies on lower-cost phones. Now, it appears Apple is joining the subsidy program itself.

When in China… take the subsidy

As reported by South China Morning Post (via MacRumors), shoppers in Shanghai and Beijing can now get up to ¥2,000 (about US$278) off select Apple products.

But there’s a catch. Several, actually.

In Shanghai, the offer only applies to in-store purchases at one of Apple’s eight brick-and-mortar stores. In Beijing, it’s limited to online orders shipped within city limits. And while only certain iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch models qualify under the government-set threshold of ¥6,000, there’s also a ¥500 cap. On the other hand, there’s a ¥2,000 cap for certain Macs.

As noted by South China Morning Post, this move marks the first time Apple is taking part in the national subsidy program through its own retail presence, rather than letting third-party platforms like JD and Alibaba do the work.

It’s a rare show of flexibility. But with iPhone sales down in China last quarter, and local rivals like Xiaomi and Huawei seeing double-digit growth, Apple seems increasingly willing to tweak its playbook to stay in the game.