BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) has launched

an aggressive discounting campaign on its official Tmall site in

China, offering discounts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318) on select

iPhone models.

The discounting comes as the U.S. tech giant seeks to defend

its position in the high-end smartphone market, where it faces

increasing competition from local rivals such as Huawei

.

Running from May 20 to May 28, it is more substantial than

the one Apple ( AAPL ) offered in February.

While the highest discount in the February campaign was

1,150 yuan, this time discounts are up to 2,300 yuan. The

steepest discount applies to the 1TB iPhone 15 Pro Max model,

while other models also see significant price cuts.

For instance, the 128 GB version of the base iPhone 15 model

has a discount of 1,400 yuan, according to Reuters' checks on

Monday.

The increased competitive pressure on Apple ( AAPL ) comes after

Huawei last month introduced its new series of high-end

smartphones, the Pura 70, following the launch of the Mate 60

last August.

Apple's ( AAPL ) previous discounting effort in February appears to

have helped the company mitigate a sales slowdown in China.

Apple's ( AAPL ) shipments in China increased by 12% in March,

according to Reuters' calculations based on data from the China

Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

This marks a significant improvement from the first two months

of 2024, when the company experienced a 37% slump in sales.

($1 = 7.2319 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Liam Mo and Casey Hall; Editing by Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)