Customers line up to buy the newly launched iPhone 15 in Shanghai, China, in Sept 2023. Shoppers are taking advantage of a US$42bil government trade-in programme aimed at boosting spending. But in recent weeks, some cities have started to cut back on the subsidies. — QILAI SHEN/The New York Times
TIANJIN, China: Browsing through the selection of Apple iPhones in an electronics store in Tianjin in eastern China, Zhan Demi rattled off the reasons she needed to upgrade her device.
Photos and videos of her toddler were quickly eating up her phone’s storage. One of her children’s teachers asked her to download various apps, again straining the limits of her device. But the factor that ultimately brought her into the store was a government trade-in programme aimed at stimulating stubbornly sluggish consumer spending in China.
