Apple cuts employees' leeks first? Started in-app purchases weeks in advance

On September 19, Tianfeng International Securities analyst Guo Minghao posted on X platform that Apple employees are now able to purchase the Apple iPhone 16 series at an employee discount price. Previously, Apple employees had to wait for several weeks after the new iPhone was released before being able to purchase the new iPhone at an employee discount price. Multiple sources have confirmed to Time Weekly reporters that Apple did indeed open the internal purchase channel for the iPhone 16 weeks earlier than in previous years. The internal purchase benefits enjoyed by Apple employees generally include the following: employees can enjoy a 25% discount when purchasing Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod series products for themselves, but each person is limited to purchasing one product per series per year; when purchasing Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod series products for family and friends, they can enjoy a 15% discount, with a limit of 10 devices per series per person per year; and they can enjoy a 10% discount when purchasing Apple accessory products, with no limit on the quantity purchased. Currently, many e-commerce platforms have seen the emergence of businesses selling "internal discount qualifications" for the iPhone 16. Time Weekly reporters consulted with multiple businesses and learned that buyers need to first select the intended product on the official website, provide the specific configuration of the product to the business to obtain a quotation, once the transaction price is confirmed, the business will use the buyer's information and internal qualifications to make the purchase on the Apple official website on behalf of the buyer, and then Apple will directly ship the product to the buyer. During the transaction process, the quotations provided by different businesses vary. The quotation usually consists of two parts: the price of the phone after the internal discount and the "service fee" charged by the business. Currently, businesses generally offer an 15% discount, and 15% is the maximum discount that can be enjoyed on the phone products, which is not much different from previous years. Different businesses have different standards for service fees. Some businesses claim that different models correspond to different service fee levels - the higher the configuration, the more expensive the service fee; while other businesses do not differentiate service fee prices for different models. Due to a certain profit margin, most third-party platform businesses only accept orders for the iPhone 16 Pro Max series. Time Weekly reporters learned that the service fees set by businesses currently range from 1300 yuan to 1500 yuan. Although enjoying the internal price of the iPhone 16 requires paying a service fee first, according to the current market situation, having the internal discount qualification is still cheaper by 600 yuan to 750 yuan compared to purchasing directly from the official website. If Apple Care is added to the purchase, which can also enjoy a 15% discount, the overall discount amount will be even greater. Regarding the reason for the early opening of the internal channel for Apple this year, many businesses explained that it is related to the decline in iPhone sales, "iPhone 16 is not selling well." Guo Minghao's latest forecast report states that the pre-order sales of the iPhone 16 series during the first weekend are approximately 37 million units, a decrease of about 12.7% compared to the first weekend sales of the iPhone 15 series last year He believes that the main reason for the lower-than-expected sales of iPhone 16 is that the demand for the iPhone 16 Pro series is lower than expected, and the shipping period of the iPhone 16 Pro series is significantly shorter than that of the 15 Pro series. In addition, the inability of the Apple Intelligence, which is the biggest selling point of this generation, to be launched together with the iPhone 16 series, and the intense competition in the Chinese market have all affected the demand for iPhone 16. Xiang Ligang, a member of the BlueD Intelligence International Think Tank Expert Committee, told Time Weekly reporters that opening internal purchase channels for the iPhone is actually a disguised price reduction, which may reduce the market's enthusiasm for the iPhone 16. Guo Mingchi also stated that with the release of Apple Intelligence in the fourth quarter, as well as seasonal promotions, the shipment volume of the iPhone 16 is expected to improve