China’s micro lenders could help make iPhone X the people’s phone

Fresh college graduates and young professionals in the mainland may be the demographic group overlooked by Apple to help turn around its fortunes in the country, even as their average monthly incomes are well short of what’s needed to purchase the newly released iPhone X.

Thanks to the boom in financial technology, tech-savvy young Chinese are inclined to buy pricey new iPhones via online loans.

Statistics from fenqile.com, one of Apple’s largest authorised resellers in China, saw a surge in registrations early Wednesday after it launched a programme to allow consumers with good online credit to buy iPhones on monthly instalments of as low as 540 yuan (US$82.7) for 12 months.

The programme was unveiled hours after Apple chief executive Tim Cook unveiled several new iPhone models at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

“Paying in instalments has become a phenomenon among internet users in China, allowing iPhones to become more affordable, particular for young consumers who have a taste for trendy, high quality products,” said Darcy Fang Liu, vice president of Lexin Fintech Holdings, the Shenzhen-based parent company of fenqile.

He added that its target users are young professionals with high income potential.