Apple tries new ways to boost iPhone sales

Apple has taken the rare step of offering promotional deals as part of its new iPhone marketing strategy to boost weaker sales.

Apple added a banner at the top of its website that advertised its iPhone XR for a big discount, after Apple executives moved some marketing staff from other projects to work on boosting sales of its iPhone XS for the days around the launch of the iPhone XR, according to a Bloomberg report citing a person familiar with the situation.

This is a rare strategy for the company as sales volumes have come in below some expectations. Apple last used similar marketing tactics in 2007, when it cut the price of the iPhone less than three months after the device launched.

Apple recently told investors that it would no longer provide detailed numbers for the sale of it individual products. Apple said it shifted 46.9m iPhones over the three months ending in September, a figure in-line with analysts' forecasts.

However last month the company was reported to have slashed production orders for all three of its new iPhones following lower-than-expected overseas demand for the devices.

In previous years the company has enjoyed strong demand in the two-week period either side of Christmas.

Apple shares slumped more than 4% on Tuesday after the report of its new promotional tactics went public.

Apple has lost about a fifth of its market value since the start of October, being overtaken by Microsoft as the world’s most valuable public company and lost the title again on Monday for a brief time as after Amazon traded at a market capitalization of $866.6bn.