US based Apple has a small fan-base in India, a country dominated by smartphone brands that offer tons of variants of the android operating system. Apple however has been trying to lower the prices of their smartphones in the country, which are sometimes higher than the ones in the US.
Of the 37 million phones sold in the country between April and June, not many were iPhones but their sales had still increased.
“Apple has 1% share of India smartphone market in Q2 2019 with 22% YoY growth,” said Anshika Jain to ‘Cult of Mac‘. Jain is an analyst at Counterpoint Research. “The YoY growth is driven by price cuts and extension of channel partnerships,” she added.
Apple has been facing tough competition from Asian rivals like OnePlus and Samsung in the premium segment.
The changing strategy in India
Studies revealed that most handsets sold in India are between the price brackets of Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 (USD 145 to USD 290). On the contrary, an iPhone XS Max sells for over Rs 1,00,000, which is even higher than its equivalent price in the US because of the taxes added by the Government.
The bypass to these tariffs is to produce more iPhones in India itself. This will include the top tier models. “Apple is focusing on local manufacturing which will be a key strategy for the brand to register positive growth this year as it will help to reduce the iPhone prices,” said Jain.
“Apple is also looking to make this country as its manufacturing hub by exporting the devices to European markets,” she further added.
The production of more devices in India, and also exporting them over to Europe will also decrease Apple’s dependence on China amidst the growing trade war.
