At midnight on March 6, 2023, JD.com plastered "billions in subsidies" across its homepage.

The promotion, originally slated for 8 p.m., kicked off 20 hours early. Phones were among the first batch of subsidized products—and the iPhone, naturally, was among them. Four years earlier, when Pinduoduo launched its own "billions in subsidies," the iPhone had been one of the most closely watched items.

Before that, consumers buying an iPhone online generally stuck to established channels: Apple's official stores, JD.com, Tmall, and Suning. Billions in subsidies dangled another option in front of them—identical models with identical storage could differ in price by several hundred yuan. Long-stable purchasing habits were pried open by Pinduoduo.

By the time Pinduoduo arrived on the scene, consumers had long since grown comfortable buying phones online. A price gap of a few hundred yuan was enough to send orders flowing from one platform to another.

Rewind twenty years, and price was hardly the only thing buyers had to worry about.

01 Learn to Inspect the Phone Before You Dare Buy One

More than twenty years ago, buying a phone meant heading to a mobile phone market—and knowing how to ask the right questions. For the same model, walking from one counter to the next could mean a price difference of several hundred yuan. If a shop quoted a noticeably lower price, you had to probe further: Is it genuine? Are the battery and charger original? Who do I contact if something goes wrong?

Asking wasn't enough. Once you had the device in hand, you had to inspect it yourself all over again. Around 2007, guides on "spotting refurbished phones" circulated widely online, teaching consumers to check whether ports showed signs of plugging and unplugging, whether screws had been turned—even suggesting you pop off the back cover and take a sniff. According to the "phone buying guides" of the time, refurbished devices might leave a whiff of plastic or chemicals.

These methods may not hold up by today's standards, but they reflected the most genuine concern consumers had when buying phones at the time: the fear of being duped.

After e-commerce took off, phone buying began shifting from offline counters to the internet. Taobao gathered products from merchants across different regions onto a single webpage. Where you once had to ask prices one by one in a mobile phone market, now you could sit in front of a computer and compare quotes from different sellers simultaneously. But once transactions moved online, doubts about products and sellers didn't disappear.

Consumers began studying a new set of criteria: checking store star ratings, scrolling through negative reviews, then asking customer service whether the product was genuine and whether it came with a nationwide warranty. With no physical product to inspect and no seller to meet face to face, store reputation became one of the most important references before placing an order. A phone cost several thousand yuan, so simply listing the product online wasn't enough—the first order of business was to make consumers trust the store.

Liu Qiangdong ran into this problem early on. By his recollection, during the SARS outbreak in 2003, JD.com's offline stores were shuttered, and employees began trying to sell CD burners on forums. Their early posts were often deleted, and even when they weren't, few people placed orders. Later, they posted on a professional review forum. The forum's chief moderator recognized JD Multimedia and publicly vouched for it below the post: "JD Multimedia—I know them. They're the only vendor in Zhongguancun that doesn't sell fake discs. Pin it!" The sentence quickly had an effect. Liu Qiangdong later recalled that JD.com received 10 orders that day.

A two-digit number of orders could be closed thanks to a single sentence from a forum moderator. But if JD.com wanted to grow the business, it couldn't sit around waiting for others to vouch for its credibility. After moving online, JD.com consistently committed to self-operation: buying goods itself and selling them itself. After 2007, it began building its own logistics, folding warehousing and delivery into its own service system. Liu Qiangdong later explained that in 2007, more than 70% of JD.com's user complaints were logistics-related, and high-value goods also faced risks such as loss and replacement—so they decided to handle logistics themselves.

The self-operated model reconnected these links. From the moment an order was placed, sales, delivery, and after-sales service at least had a clearer party to hold accountable.

In 2010, JD.com began piloting "211 limited-time delivery." For eligible orders placed before 11 a.m., customers could receive them the same day. Beyond "already shipped, please wait patiently," JD.com began writing delivery times into specific service commitments.

Tmall took another path. In January 2014, the Apple Store official flagship store opened on Tmall. For the first time, consumers could buy products directly from Apple on a comprehensive e-commerce platform they were already familiar with. The significance went beyond an "official flagship store" label appearing on the page.

When buying phones, consumers began to have clearer choices: either go to a brand's official store or choose a platform's self-operated option. After one smooth transaction, the next time they changed phones, everyone would prioritize returning to the app they knew.

When Pinduoduo began selling iPhones, consumers were already used to buying phones on JD.com and Tmall. To grab a share of this business, it first had to answer a question for consumers: Why buy from you?

02 Can a Few Hundred Yuan Cheaper Earn Trust?

Many people first learned about Pinduoduo through group-buying links sent by relatives and friends—or through a sentence like "help me cut the price." When they actually started placing orders there, they usually bought low-priced items: tissues, fruit, daily necessities.

Pinduoduo's early growth relied on social sharing. According to the platform's explanation in its annual report, users could send products and group-buying invitations to relatives and friends on WeChat and QQ, and obtain lower prices through group purchases. But getting someone to click a link is easy; getting them to buy an iPhone there is another matter entirely.

In April 2019, Pinduoduo disclosed that since the previous Double 11, the platform had sold more than 1.1 million new iPhones cumulatively. During major promotions, new iPhones on Pinduoduo were priced 500 to 1,000 yuan lower than the e-commerce industry average. During 618 the same year, Pinduoduo launched "billions in subsidies," and the iPhone quickly became one of the most closely watched categories.

If something is only a few yuan cheaper, most people can't be bothered to switch platforms to order. But if it's five hundred—or even a thousand—yuan cheaper, opening another app becomes an easy thing to do. The iPhone is also a product particularly suited to price comparison. For the same model, same storage, and same version, provided it's genuine, consumers' orders naturally go to the lower price.

But after Pinduoduo lowered prices, new questions followed: Why is the price so low? Are you sure it's an Apple phone and not a pineapple phone? During that period, discussions about the source of Pinduoduo's iPhones persisted. Pinduoduo responded that iPhones on the platform came from regular authorized dealer channels and came with proper invoices.

The first group of people who took the plunge placed orders on Pinduoduo. When they received the phones, activated them smoothly, and used them normally, their shares and reviews became Pinduoduo's credibility endorsement.

In the past, when buying a phone, many people first decided which platform to use and then picked the specific product. After billions in subsidies, that order began to loosen. For the same iPhone, consumers would compare prices across several platforms and then decide where to place the final order. Pinduoduo thus entered the ranks of mainstream phone purchase channels.

03 Beyond Channels, the New Battleground Is Time and Attention

At midnight on March 6, 2023, JD.com's "billions in subsidies" officially launched. Before 618 the same year, Taobao also upgraded its billions in subsidies, moving the entrance to an independent slot in the first row of the homepage.

JD.com continued to play the card it knew best: genuine products, logistics, and after-sales service—plus a price advantage. Consumers began comparing directly: where the same phone was cheaper, where delivery was faster, and who was responsible if something went wrong.

Taobao and Tmall's trump card was brand flagship stores. Brands such as Apple and Xiaomi had operated there for years, and official channels combined with platform promotions made "Is it an official store?" an important consideration beyond price.

Pinduoduo had a different problem to solve. Billions in subsidies could use low prices to bring in the first order, but whether consumers would stay after buying an iPhone to buy headphones, computers, and other high-priced goods would determine whether this low-price approach could truly change user purchasing habits.

Beyond price, even the standard for "delivery speed" changed.

Meituan Instashopping's cooperation with Apple authorized stores began as early as 2020, with new phones deliverable to the home in as fast as half an hour. This meant that an Apple authorized store within a few kilometers nearby also began to function as a warehouse for online orders. In the past, buying a new phone online usually still went through the traditional warehousing and distribution network; now, riders could pick up goods directly from an Apple authorized store in a nearby mall.

In September, when the iPhone 18 Pro series went on sale, Taobao Flash Shopping also claimed that in some areas the new phone could be received in as fast as 18 minutes.

The delivery time for a phone shrank from several days to next-day, same-day, and then tens of minutes. Competition for phone orders also expanded from battles among traditional e-commerce players to instant retail.

The players at the table are still increasing. In August 2025, the Apple Store official flagship store officially opened on Douyin. Consumers could watch new phone review content on Douyin and also directly enter the Apple Store official flagship store to complete a purchase—product learning and ordering both happening in the same app.

In the past, consumers usually first had a need to change phones and then went to e-commerce platforms to search for models. After content platforms appeared, the purchase path began to extend further forward from "search." Instant retail shortened the time from order to receipt, while Douyin further pushed competition to before demand even arises.

The battle line for platforms competing for phone orders also extended all the way forward from the order page: price, trust, supply, fulfillment speed—all the way to the moment consumers develop the idea to buy.

Conclusion

Twenty years ago, buying a phone was something that required repeated confirmation. Consumers had to judge whether the device was reliable and also learn how to inspect it.

Later, brand official stores, platform self-operation, logistics, and after-sales service gradually took over the judgments that consumers once had to bear themselves. By the time everyone dared to buy a phone worth several thousand yuan online, new questions followed: since the products are all the same, why must I buy it here?

Pinduoduo gave one answer with subsidies, and JD.com and Tmall then placed price, service, and brand resources back on the same table. After content platforms such as Douyin joined, this order could even begin to be contested before consumers actually decided to change phones.

Today, a phone can be bought through different channels. The harder question for platforms is: the next time consumers place an order, why will they still think of you?