Apple has launched a trade-in program at its TMall store, allowing not just iOS, but also Android devices to be given in part exchange when purchasing new Apple products. The device, with which costumers use for browsing Apple’s flagship store, will be automatically identified, and will result in some trade-in pop-up suggestions. This newly implemented initiative was estimated “aggressive” but “understandable”, given that Apple is besieged by its Chinese homegrown rivals, such as Huawei and Vivo, and continues to lose its market share after many fierce battles. The Sino-US political and economic frictions have not been kind to this global communicator leader either – among other things, the sales suspension order issued by a Fuzhou court, resulting from the patent infringement to Qualcomm, together with the extradition case of Huawei’s CFO, have undermined people’s interests in products designed in the US.
