“In 2020, Apple will go all-out on India,” Tarun Pathak, an associate director at Counterpoint, told Bloomberg News. In 2019, Apple’s iPhone sales in India grew 6% versus a 43% decline in the previous year, stabilizing its position, but the company’s 2019 shipments are still down more than a quarter from 2016 as iPhones struggle to make headway in India against cheap smartphones.
Apple’s iPhone XRDiscounting the iPhone XR by $250 in the middle of the year made it Apple’s best-selling phone in the country, according to Counterpoint Technology Market Research. The fall introduction of the iPhone 11, with a reduced starting price, “helped to gain share during the festive season and in its launch quarter in India,” the researchers added.
In a country where the annual per-capita income barely exceeds $2,100, an iPhone with a four-figure price tag is an out-of-reach aspirational object for most. Apple is having to go up against Android rivals averaging prices below $200 and its market share is correspondingly low: of the roughly 158 million smartphones shipped in India in 2019, Apple sold less than 2 million…
“Apple is shifting focus from older-generation iPhones to selling the latest models and that is a big change,” said Tarun Pathak… Additionally, Apple is set to unveil a successor to the iPhone SE in March… The company has also been eyeing locations for brick-and-mortar Apple stores in India, showing renewed interest in the fast-growing market. “In 2020, Apple will go all-out on India,” Pathak said.
MacDailyNews Take: For Apple in India, there’s really max headroom. With no place to go but up for Apple in India, here’s to 2020!
Yup, no place to go but up, especially when a company holds a 1% market share percentage. It’s rather difficult to go down from there. I doubt there is much Apple can do to improve its market share. Just doubling market share in India to 2% will be a struggle for Apple. The thing is, I can’t blame Indian consumers for not buying iPhones. I’m sure their hard-earned money can be used for things far more important than any flagship smartphone. A person with a low income shouldn’t be wasting their money on expensive smartphones. Low-cost Android smartphones are the most fitting devices for Indian consumers. I know it’s tempting to try to sell a product to a billion or so consumers, but if a product isn’t affordable, then there is very little that can be done. I’m sure there are plenty of companies willing to lose money to make a sale to gain market share percentage but that’s not Apple.
Yes. If you don’t post a lost, you have stabilized a preceding loss. That’s what stabilization is: an end of a trend. Now, if Apple were to have posted a 75% gain instead of 6%, that would have been a complete reversal of the loss. I would imagine they didn’t call the 6% gain a “questionable/hopeful recovery” because that would be baseless speculation about some future trend. I don’t see the issue here.
Yup, no place to go but up, especially when a company holds a 1% market share percentage. It’s rather difficult to go down from there. I doubt there is much Apple can do to improve its market share. Just doubling market share in India to 2% will be a struggle for Apple. The thing is, I can’t blame Indian consumers for not buying iPhones. I’m sure their hard-earned money can be used for things far more important than any flagship smartphone. A person with a low income shouldn’t be wasting their money on expensive smartphones. Low-cost Android smartphones are the most fitting devices for Indian consumers. I know it’s tempting to try to sell a product to a billion or so consumers, but if a product isn’t affordable, then there is very little that can be done. I’m sure there are plenty of companies willing to lose money to make a sale to gain market share percentage but that’s not Apple.
Wait, of iPhone sales, Bloomberg notes a 6% growth “stabilizes” a 43% lost the prior year?
Put those numbers on a scale and “questionable/hopeful recovery,” might be better suited.
Yes. If you don’t post a lost, you have stabilized a preceding loss. That’s what stabilization is: an end of a trend. Now, if Apple were to have posted a 75% gain instead of 6%, that would have been a complete reversal of the loss. I would imagine they didn’t call the 6% gain a “questionable/hopeful recovery” because that would be baseless speculation about some future trend. I don’t see the issue here.