This is shocking news for the “strongly in demand” Apple iPhone. The market share that was enjoyed by Apple’s iPhone in the Indian markets has fallen by almost 35%, say the trade news.
India has always been a huge blooming market for sales of iPhone. After China and US, India was said to be the world’s third largest market, for Smartphones. This was a fact that never went unnoticed by Apple and they had always considered iPhone sales in India very lucrative. The Cupertino giant’s CEO, Tim Cook, had even announced that Apple was planning on introducing new company-owned, retail outlets in India for its Smartphones, during an earnings call recently.
The figures reported of Q2 in 2016, by Strategy Analytics, show that Apple had shipped about 800,000 iPhones to India as compared to the 1.2 million Smartphones that had been dispatched to India same time last year.
Director at Strategy Analytics, Woody Oh, stated “Apple iOS fell 35% annually and shipped 0.8 million Smartphones in India in Q2 2016. Apple’s Smartphone market share has halved from 4% to just 2% in India during the past year.”
The main deterrent here seems to be the price factor. The iPhone may have been a favorite with the masses and used as a style statement but the fact is that it is priced high. The Indian audiences have now a huge variety of cheaper phones that have similar features. Reports confirm that “Smartphone shipments grew 19% annually to reach 31 million units in India during the second quarter of 2016.”Tim Cook may term India as a vibrant country and may have a Hyderabad office to carry out its works, but the sale drop is concerning.
To boost the sales of Apple’s Smartphones, Woody Oh ,added, “Apple iOS will need to reduce iPhone pricing to cheaper levels, attract more operator subsidies and enlarge its retail presence through Apple stores or online channels if it wants to re-grow significantly in the future.”Its time for Apple to brainstorm the reason for the falling sales, and get more user-friendly, the way the Android is, to please the Indian customers!
