(Yicai) Sept. 20 -- Some Chinese e-commerce platforms have been offering discounts of up to CNY1,000 (USD142) to customers pre-ordering the iPhone 16, mainly because of weak demand and missing Apple Intelligence.

Pinduoduo is pre-selling iPhone 16 phones from CNY5,399 (USD766), compared with CNY5,999 (USD851) on Apple's official website. Meanwhile, the 512GB iPhone 16 Plus is available at CNY8,999 (USD1,277) on Pinduoduo, versus CNY9,999 (USD1,419) on Apple.Com.Cn.

Demand for the iPhone 16 is lower than expected, with preorders in China during the first weekend of release down 12 percent compared with the iPhone 15, said Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities.

However, the shrinking demand is mainly concentrated in the Chinese market, as the global decline is expected to be smaller than 12 percent, Chung Shao-lei, an analyst at Canalys, told Yicai.

Softening demand has also helped shorten the delivery time of the first batch of iPhones. For example, the most popular Pro Max version has a waiting time of only two to three weeks for the iPhone 16 series, versus over a month for previous iPhone series.

Another reason for the low demand for the iPhone 16 is the absence of Apple Intelligence, which is expected to be available on Apple's smartphones in English language from next month and in Chinese language from next year, Kuo noted.

But market expectations for Apple Intelligence remain high, as its release could trigger a "super cycle" of iPhone upgrades, Chung said. "Moreover, users remain incredibly loyal to the Apple ecosystem and iOS, a feature unmatched by other phone makers."

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione