Apple's official website collapsed, JD's reservation volume exceeded 7 million, and delivery scheduled to mid-October. The iPhone 17 series swept the global market with unprecedented popularity. Behind this is not only the victory of technological innovation, but also a carefully planned feast of consumer psychology. At 8 pm on September 12, the pre-sale of the iPhone 17 series was officially launched. The transaction volume on JD.com platform exceeded the entire day of last year in just one minute, setting a new sales record.

Apple's official website crashed instantly due to overloading visits, and "iPhone 17 can't be grabbed" quickly topped the hot search list on Weibo. As of press time, Apple's official website shows that the delivery time of the iPhone 17 series has been scheduled to be after October 15. Among them, the highest-end iPhone 17 Pro Max and the cost-effective iPhone 17 standard version have become the fastest sold-out models.

01 Pre-sale event, sales record breaks instantly

The pre-sale of iPhone 17 series is far more popular than market expectations. According to JD platform data, the total number of reservations for the entire series of iPhone 17 has exceeded 7 million, and the standard version has become the well-deserved "popularity king" among the series of products. After the pre-sale was launched, Apple's official website once stuttered and slow loading due to excessive visits.

Mainstream e-commerce platforms such as JD.com and Tmall have also encountered similar situations, and many consumers have reported that they need to wait in line to enter the purchase page. Just 1-2 minutes after the sale, almost all the first batch of supply on each platform were "exhausted in seconds". This popularity of buying has made the iPhone 17 series one of the fastest pre-sale products in Apple's history.

02 Configuration upgrade, no price increase

The iPhone 17 series has undergone significant upgrades in many aspects. Apple's A19/A19 Pro's mobile phone SoC chip has been upgraded again, and its AI computing power reaches 45TOPS, which will further promote the improvement of end-side AI capabilities. Unlike previous years, this year's iPhone 17 has canceled the 128GB storage configuration, and 256GB has become the lowest storage specification, but the starting price remains unchanged at 5,999 yuan.

This is actually equivalent to reducing unit storage costs, which is a great attraction for consumers. The iPhone 17 Pro series rear cameras have all been upgraded to 48 million pixels, and the body adopts aluminum metal integrated molding and second-generation super ceramic crystal panels. This year, Apple also launched a 2TB storage version on the iPhone 17 Pro Max for the first time.

03 Strategy adjustment to meet market demand

Apple's product strategy adjustment is a positive response to the current market trend. The significant improvement in battery life is a highlight of the iPhone 17 series - the video playback time of the new mobile phone is 8 hours higher than the previous generation, and it only needs to charge for 10 minutes to support up to 8 hours of video playback. There are also important innovations in thermal performance. The iPhone 17 Pro introduces VC heat-smoothing plate technology for the first time, and combines aluminum alloy material to achieve more efficient heat conduction.

This technology, once more common in gaming phones, is now on Apple's flagship phones, marking that the company is actively responding to changes in market demand. Apple has adopted "8x telephoto" as one of its selling points, and this feature based on hybrid zoom technology has been more adopted by the Android camp before. This shows that Apple is absorbing successful experiences from the Android camp to enhance product competitiveness.

04 Marketing techniques to create scarcity

Apple's marketing strategy is a textbook-level business calculation. Keeping the same price tag as the previous generation, the storage capacity has jumped from 128GB to 256GB, and is equipped with a 120Hz ProMotion adaptive refresh rate screen for the first time. This combination of "increasing volume but not increasing price" just anchors the price within the national subsidy threshold of 6,000 yuan, allowing mainstream consumer groups to enjoy up to 15% purchase subsidy. Market feedback confirms the effectiveness of the strategy.

Apple's precise control of the supply chain also supports the effect of hunger marketing. According to supply chain information, in order to meet the demand of the Chinese market, Apple increased the initial production capacity of the iPhone 17 series by 20% this year, among which the parts stock volume of the Pro Max model increased by 35% year-on-year.

05 Ecological advantages, building a moat

The iOS ecosystem forms Apple's first moat. According to Apple's 2025Q3 financial report, its equipment collaborative active users have exceeded 1.8 billion, which means that every time you change the phone, you need to re-adapt to the Android system, transfer data, and re-purchase paid applications. Mandatory compatibility at the hardware level strengthens this binding.

Apple Watch must be used with iPhone. The seamless switching experience of AirPods between Apple devices has formed a linkage effect of the product matrix. What is more hidden is the blessing of social attributes. Hot topics on Weibo such as "iPhone17 appointment collapsed" continue to ferment, and the release of new phones has become a social currency for young people to demonstrate their lifestyle. This social attributes further enhance the attractiveness of Apple products.

06 Market opportunity, precise positioning competition

Apple's choice of pre-sale timing this time has hidden strategic considerations. The release date is scheduled on September 12, which happened to be ahead of Huawei Mate70 series (released on September 20) and Xiaomi 15 Ultra (released on September 25), and successfully intercepted the phone replacement needs before the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Historical data shows that the 2023 iPhone 15 was delayed for two weeks, resulting in Huawei's market share being taken away by 3 percentage points in the quarter. This lesson prompted Apple to adopt a preemptive strategy this year.

The unexpected delay of the Air model has instead formed a market focus effect. The iPhone 17 Air, which originally focused on thin and thin, was postponed to launch due to eSIM policy issues, which has made consumers focus on the other three models.

07 Consumer psychology, sense of identity and value

In the context of slowing smartphone innovation, the hot sales of iPhone 17 are consumers' choice for "certainty value". When the Android camp is addicted to the parameter competition, Apple insists on providing perceived experience improvements in its annual iterations. The resilience of brand premium remains significant. Although the overall growth rate of China's smartphone market slowed to single digits, the high-end market (above 6,000 yuan) still maintained a 15% growth.

The market share of the iPhone 17 Pro series in this range reached 42% on the first day. The details in the pre-sale data are worthy of fun: JD.com’s platform shows that the proportion of users aged 35-45 is 58%, far higher than the industry average of 35%; corporate purchase orders increased by 40% year-on-year. This shows that the iPhone is not only a personal consumer product, but also a standard product for workplace identity and business.

The total number of reservations on the JD platform exceeded 7 million, and the Pro Max version was "not in seconds" when it was launched. The price of the Pinduoduo's 10 billion subsidy has been reduced by 900 yuan in the entire series, but the official shipping schedule has reached October 15. It is difficult to count non-personal needs such as scalpers and corporate procurement. The Counterpoint report pointed out that the average replacement cycle of Chinese consumers has been extended to 36 months, indicating that some appointments may be due to herd mentality rather than real needs.