It’s not the first time we’re hearing about this, as a report earlier this week indicated the exact same thing. Apple is in a weird situation where it had to, again, cut down iPhone production, as the Cupertino-based company is struggling with its phone sales. Regardless if it’s because the battery replacement program, the US-China trade war, the Qualcomm lawsuit, or poor Chinese sales, Apple’s not doing well with its 2018 line-up. Testifying to this is yet another report of Chinese retailers moving to heavily discount iPhone prices.

The Reuters report specifically names Alibaba-backed Suning and JD.com as the major players doing discounts which in some cases are “as steep as $118 for the recently launched 64GB iPhone XR”. Suning also discounted the 64GB iPhone 8 by $178

Discounts started a couple of days ago and Reuters claims, based on their own research, that at least six retailers will be offering promotions and move to discount iPhone prices. However, Apple did not directly discount iPhone prices on its own website.

An analyst cited by Reuters said “it’s possible Apple wants to test the market’s feedback if it brings down the channel prices. Or, Apple might be under pressure to clean out its stock of iPhones”. It’s not just Apple that’s struggling, as data shows that smartphone shipments in China have dropped 15.5 percent. At the same time, domestic manufacturers managed to gain traction by adding more affordable models to their portfolios.