iPhone 18 Pro Falls Below Launch Price in China Pre-Sale

Immediate discounting through platform subsidies signals that Chinese demand at Apple's official price points is softer than the launch cadence implies, and it shifts pricing power toward e-commerce channels rather than Apple's own storefront. The dynamic matters most for resellers and for Apple's China revenue mix, since subsidy-driven sales compress the premium the brand normally commands. Whether these below-list prices persist past the initial pre-order window, or disappear once launch inventory tightens, is the open question worth tracking.