As the company is facing strong headwinds globally, the move is seen as an attempt to lift sales of its iPhones.
Amidst concerns of slumping iPhone sales, its maker Apple on Friday expanded a promotional upgrade programme for its latest iPhone XS and XR handsets to major markets around the world.
It is seen as an attempt by the US-based company to lift sales of its iPhones.
Launched in November, the promotion offers prospective buyers with a higher iPhone trade-in value to put towards the purchase of a new iPhone XS and XR.
In the U.S., customers can receive up to $450 when trading in an iPhone X, $350 for an iPhone 8 Plus or $300 for an iPhone 8 or iPhone 7 Plus, AppleInsider reported.
According to regional Apple websites, Apple is now giving similar offers in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Taiwan. The promotion has also been made available in a few European countries including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and the UK.
However, Latin America, Africa and India, which is widely viewed as a key growth market for Apple, are yet to be included in the trade-in programme.
Legal disputes pending against Apple
The company is facing strong headwinds globally. After older iPhones getting banned in China, Apple was hit by another blow in Germany with a court order directing the Cupertino giant to stop selling iPhone 7 and 8 models. The luxury phone brand, reportedly, had infringed a hardware patent of the US chipmaker, Qualcomm.
Apple and Qualcomm have been engaging in legal disputes for the past two years. It started with Apple alleging the latter of overcharging prices of its modern chips. Qualcomm has been taking legal actions against the Cupertino giant since then. The latest move was getting older iPhones banned in China and Germany.
To avoid iPhone sales ban in China, Apple recently made changes in iPhone iOS, exclusive for iPhone devices sold in Chinese market.
