Recently, a well-known institution released data on domestic mobile phone activations in the second quarter. It can be seen that VIVO, Xiaomi, Apple, OPPO, Huawei, and Honor ranked top 6 respectively.

To be honest, I was quite surprised to see this ranking, as Xiaomi ranked second, Apple third, Huawei fifth, and Honor sixth.

Compared to the data from the first quarter of 2024, this can be considered a major shakeup, with the rankings completely disrupted.

I won't delve into the specifics of other domestic brands, but let's focus on Apple today. Apple climbed from fifth place in the first quarter to third place in the second quarter, an improvement of two spots.

It's worth noting that many people have believed Apple is on the decline, no longer popular, and not many people are buying its products. So why is its sales performance still impressive?

The truth is that Apple offered significant price cuts in the second quarter, leading to increased sales. Price cuts served as Apple's "antidote."

If you paid attention to prices during the 618 shopping festival, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, originally priced at 9999 yuan, was available for around 7500 yuan, a 25% discount. The iPhone 15, priced at 5999 yuan, was available for just 4400 yuan, a 27% discount...

These prices made Apple products seem more affordable than Huawei's Mate60 series and Pura70 series competitors, prompting many people to buy iPhones. After all, the cost-effectiveness is quite high after the price cuts.

Looking at the 618 mobile phone sales race rankings, it's clear that whether measured by sales volume or sales revenue, Apple emerged as the biggest winner, ranking first. Hence, it's understandable that Apple ranked third in the second quarter.

However, while price cuts are an "antidote" for Apple, they are also a "poison." Currently, with declining sales, Apple has no choice but to swallow this "poison" as an "antidote."

The concept of "antidote" is straightforward, as mentioned earlier. Apple's sales surged immediately after taking the "antidote" of price cuts.

But why are price cuts also a "poison"? The reason is simple. For Apple, price cuts are a major hassle.

Apple's prices have been stable, and its ability to control pricing across channels is strong. This has allowed Apple to maintain a good resale value and ensure rapid circulation in the second-hand market.

Now, with repeated price cuts, Apple is hurting its channels, consumers, and second-hand phone stores. Such aggressive price cuts indicate that Apple's pricing system has collapsed.

In the long run, who would buy Apple products at launch when they can wait half a year for a 25-30% discount? The impact on Apple is self-evident.

It can be said that while price cuts have brought sales, they have also disrupted the pricing system that Apple has maintained for over a decade. Isn't that like taking poison? But for sales, Apple has no choice but to swallow this "antidote" with tears. After all, without sales, a stable pricing system is useless. To boost sales, Apple can only risk collapsing its pricing system.

As Huawei's highly anticipated Mate70 is set to launch this year, it's estimated that the price of Apple's iPhone 16 will collapse even further. So, my advice is not to buy the iPhone 16 at launch this year, or you'll definitely regret it.