If Apple reports its earnings on Wednesday, you could mention India during the call.
Apple shipped more than 1.5 million iPhone units in India in the quarter ended December, 100% higher than year-on-year, making it the best quarter in the world’s largest smartphone market to date, according to research firms Counterpoint and CyberMedia.
Thanks to the improved sales of the older generation iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone 12 and the newer iPhone SE, Apple doubled its market share in India to 4% in the quarter, the research firms said.
Overall, Apple shipped more than 3.2 million iPhone units in India by 2020, up 60% year-over-year, Counterpoint said.
Shipping growth comes months after Apple launched its online store nationwide and offered customers a wide range of financing and upgrade options, AppleCare +, and lucrative benefits, such as a free set of AirPods with the purchase of iPhone 11 The company plans to open its first physical store in the country later this year.
Apple has been struggling for more than a decade to sell its devices in India due to the expensive price tags they carry. Most smartphones shipped in India cost between $ 100 and $ 200. Samsung and a group of Chinese smartphone sellers, including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, have flooded the market over the past decade with their affordable smartphones.
Nevertheless, over the past few years, Apple has visibly become more interested in the country, which is also one of the world’s fastest growing smartphone markets. The company’s contract makers are today assembling a range of iPhone models and some accessories locally – an effort the company launched more than two years ago. (However, a recent violent incident at an Indian factory of Wistron, one of Apple’s contract makers, underscored some of the challenges Apple will face in expanding its domestic production efforts in the country.)
That move enabled Apple to lower the prices of some older-generation iPhone models in India, where the company passed on import rights to customers years ago. The starting price of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is $ 1,781 in India, compared to $ 1,099 in the US (Apple has not yet started assembling the iPhone 12 units locally.) The AirPods Pro, which sells in the US for $ 249 , was made available in India at $ 341 at the time of launch. AirPods Max also cost $ 815 in India, compared to $ 549 in the US (it does not help that an average person in India earns $ 2,000 a year.)
Unlike most foreign companies that offer their products and services for free in India or at the cheapest prices in the world, Apple has completely focused on a small fraction of the population that can afford to pay a lot of money, Jayanth Kolla said. chief analyst at Convergence Catalyst. , TechCrunch said.
This is not to say that Apple has not changed its pricing strategy for India. The monthly cost of Apple Music is $ 1.35 in India, compared to $ 9.99 in the US. The Apple One bundle, which includes Apple Music, TV +, Arcade and iCloud, costs $ 2.65 a month in India.