iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders smash records across Chinese retailers
Apple‘s newly announced iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max vanished from virtual shelves within minutes of pre-orders launching in China on Saturday evening. The overwhelming consumer response generated massive traffic across major e-commerce platforms and triggered an immediate spike in secondary market prices.
Pre-orders officially began at 8 p.m. local time on September 12. During the first hour of availability, Taobao reported that sales figures more than doubled those recorded during last year’s equivalent launch window. The platform’s Flash Sale event saw the total sales volume for all Apple products multiply by more than 25 times compared to an average trading day.
The initial rush depleted launch stock allocations almost instantaneously across Apple’s official Chinese website, Taobao and JD.com. Highly sought-after configurations, particularly the new glacier blue models in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage tiers, saw their estimated delivery dates pushed back to September 30 just minutes after the digital storefronts opened.
Secondary market commands steep premiums
The severe supply constraint has already reshaped the domestic resale landscape. Independent vendors on Dewu, a popular Chinese resale platform, immediately capitalised on the scarcity by applying heavy markups.
The silver 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max saw the most dramatic price inflation, with average transaction prices reaching 13,999 yuan. This figure represents a 27.3% premium over Apple’s official retail pricing. The burgundy variant of the same capacity averaged 12,799 yuan, reflecting a 16.4% markup. Even the standard Pro models faced inflated costs, with base 256GB versions trading for about 10% above retail.
Industry analysts suggest the robust demand stems from significant hardware upgrades introduced this generation. The iPhone 18 Pro series features the new 2nm A20 Pro processor, an upgraded 48-megapixel Fusion camera system and a titanium chassis.
