Apple sales staff deny problems with iPhone 8 reception in China

People visit an Apple store in Shanghai. (Photo: Xie Jun/GT)

Staff at an Apple retail store in Shanghai told the Global Times on Thursday that sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which Apple launched earlier this month, have been good despite media reports that the devices met a chilly reception in the Chinese mainland market.

The Global Times visited an Apple retail store located on Nanjing West Road in Shanghai at around 11:30 a.m., and saw that the store was filled with customers examining the products or talking to sales staff.

When asked by the Global Times whether sales of the new Apple products were going well, a salesperson pointed at the customers and said "you can see them."

A saleswoman also told the Global Times that the iPhone 8 is as popular as the iPhone 7, in her observation. But she also said that the iPhone 8 was not much of an improvement over the iPhone 7, so it's not worth the money to move up.

Compared with the iPhone 7, the iPhone 8 has a better-performing camera, a faster chip processor and a firmer glass body, she said.

The Global Times observed that an iPhone 8 costs 5,888 yuan ($883) (64GB), while an iPhone 8 plus costs 6,688 yuan (64GB), compared with 5, 588 yuan for an iPhone 7 plus (32GB).

A salesman at a Beijing iPhone store told the Global Times earlier that sales of 64GB iPhones were particularly good. "The stock of 64GB phones at stores are usually sold out every day," he said.

There have been media reports lately that there are not as many domestic customers queuing up for the iPhone 8 as they did for earlier models.

Many people who bought the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus online have returned the devices, causing those phones to fill up the warehouses of certain logistics companies, cs.com.cn reported on Wednesday.

Apple Inc on Thursday sent the Global Times a link to a report by US financial network CNBC, which quoted Apple CEO Tim Cook as saying that the company was sold out of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in some stores.

But Apple didn't address an inquiry by the Global Times as to the sales performance of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in the Chinese market.

Liu Dingding, an independent technology analyst, said that the iPhone 8's improvement over the iPhone 7 is almost "negligible." Apple is also facing strong competition from domestic mobile phone brands like Huawei and Xiaomi, Liu said.

But Liu applauded the iPhone X, which will be available for sale on November 3, saying that it is a "groundbreaking innovation" in terms of its exterior design and its facial recognition function.

An iPhone X will cost about 8,388 yuan.

Apple's shares were trading at $154.2 as of press time, up 0.71 percent.