iPhone Demand Drives Record Sales For Alibaba, JD On '6.18' Kickoff Day

Chinese e-commerce platforms Alibaba Group Holdings (NYSE: BABA) and JD.com Inc (NASDAQ: JD) kicked off the annual mid-year online shopping festival “6.18” with record sales as the country struggles to reach full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, China’s state newspaper Global Times reported on Tuesday. 

What Happened: JD.com’s sales on its online supermarket, JD Super, soared more than seven times year-on-year on the first day, lifted by strong demand for Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhones, the report said.

See also: How To Buy Apple Stock

The iPhone transaction volume passed the $15.7 million (100 million yuan) mark in just five seconds while it took Xiaomi five minutes to achieve similar numbers. 

Rival Alibaba’s Tmall sales on its international channel surpassed last year’s first day sales of the festival in just eight hours, the report said citing data.

See Also: Alibaba Sees Vendor Signups For '6.18' Shopping Festival On Tmall Double: What You Need To Know

Lenovo’s overall sales crossed the RMB 100 million mark in two minutes helped by strong demand for personal computer products while Xiaomi claims to have sold 500,000 of its Note 10 series within an hour, the report said.

Why It Matters: The annual mid-year shopping event is a major draw for both Alibaba and JD as steep discounts and offers help them add billions in revenue. According to the Global Times report, coupons and discounts are even steeper this year and the online platforms are expected to offer subsidies worth RMB 10 billion through the 20-day event.

Vendors this year are also live streaming offers to shore up sales. The annual online sales festival will last through June 20.

Price Action: Alibaba shares closed 2.58% higher at $219.48 on Tuesday. JD.com shares closed 5.94% higher at $78.33.