iPhone XR Discounted by SoftBank, Apple Extends iPhone Trade-in Offer in Japan

By Gaurav Shukla | Updated: 25 January 2019 17:36 IST

Highlights

The discounted iPhone XR price will go into effect on January 30
Apple had extended the trade-in program till February 28
Apple is having a tough time selling iPhone XR in Japan

SoftBank follows NTT Docomo, which had discounted the iPhone XR in November 2018

Photo Credit: Apple

In a bid to improve middling iPhone sales in Japan, Apple is letting more and more telecom operators discount the iPhone XR. After NTT Docomo reduced the price of iPhone XR in November 2018, another carrier SoftBank has announced a JPY 10,800 (roughly $98) discount on the phone. Additionally, the Cupertino-based company has extended its ongoing iPhone trade-in offer for iPhone XS and iPhone XR in the country, giving the consumer another avenue to get new iPhone models at a lower price.

Japanese telecom operator SoftBank earlier on Friday stated that it will be selling the iPhone XR with JPY 10,800 (roughly $98) discount beginning January 30. The telecom operator is dubbing it “iPhone XR Happy Price Campaign.” SoftBank follows NTT Docomo, which had done the same in November's last week, after Apple reportedly started offering subsidies to mobile operators to boost the sales of iPhone XR.

According to reports, iPhone XR has had poor sales in the country and the consumers are still flocking to buy iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus because of the lower prices and a familiar design that is absent from the current crop of iPhone models.

Separately, Apple has also extended its iPhone trade-in offer in the country, which was introduced in late-December. It was originally supposed to end on January 31 but will now continue till February 28. As a part of the offer, the consumers can trade-in their old iPhone models to get a discount on iPhone XR and iPhone XS. As per a listing on the company's official website, the consumers can get the iPhone XR for as low as JPY 59,800 (roughly $546, Rs. 39,000) and iPhone XS for starting JPY 87,800 (roughly $800, Rs. 57,200). The extension of the trade-in offer was first spotted by arigato-ipod.com.

The iPhone XR maybe having a hard time finding buyers in Japan, but according to research report released on Thursday, the phone has been the company's biggest seller in the United States in the last quarter. The model reportedly accounted for 39 percent of the total iPhone sales in the country in the quarter.