Looking to juice sales, Apple teams with Ant Financial, banks for interest-free iPhone financing in China

“Apple Inc has teamed up with Chinese payments giant Ant Financial Services Group and several local banks to offer interest-free financing, its first such move in the country as it looks to boost waning smartphone sales,” Reuters reports.
“On its China website, Apple is promoting the new scheme, under which customers can pay 271 yuan ($40.31) each month to purchase an iPhone XR, and 362 yuan each month for an iPhone XS. Customers trading in old models can get cheaper installments,” Reuters reports. “Users buying products worth a minimum of 4,000 yuan worth from Apple would qualify for interest-free financing that can be paid over three, six, nine, 12 or 24 months, the website shows.”
“Apple is offering the plan through Huabei, a consumer credit service run by Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba,” Reuters reports. “Apple is facing headwinds in China where economic growth slowed in 2018 to the weakest pace in 28 years, exacerbated by a crippling trade war with the United States. Several Chinese electronics retailers including Alibaba-backed Suning and JD.com slashed iPhone prices recently, with discounts as steep as 20 percent.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Time for a new iPhone, Chinese consumers!
SEE ALSO:
Apple China: Buy a new iPhone for less than $30 a month, interest free via Alipay – February 21, 2019