iPhone achieved 78 percent growth in India’s fast-growing smartphone market year-on-year for the first quarter of 2020, new figures from Counterpoint Research suggest.
While Apple is still a tiny fraction of the Indian smartphone market, that makes the iPhone the third fastest-growing brand in the country, following Realme and Oppo. There’s still a long way to go before it can threaten the top-selling likes of Xiaomi, Vivo, and Samsung, however.
According to the new report, published Monday, Apple’s growth was driven by “strong shipments of iPhone 11 and multiple discounts” on platforms like Flipkart and Amazon. It was the leading brand, with 55% of the market, in the “ultra-premium” segment of the market. This covers handsets costing $600 and up.
Smartphone sales in India grew in January and February. However, like many other parts of the world, it’s been impacted by the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, Counterpoint Research thinks overall smartphone shipments will decline by 10% for the full calendar year.
Apple is working to grow iPhone brand in India
Apple is working hard to grow its brand in India. With 1.3 billion people, it’s poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation. However, it is also a tough market for Apple to crack. Apple products aren’t cheap. Even new devices like the $399 iPhone SE are more than double the price most people spend on phones in a country where the average annual income is $1,892.
With Apple making more and more iPhones in India, aggressive campaigns, and its first official Apple Store opening there in the near future, it’s headed in the right direction. But there’s still absolutely no guarantee Apple will ever be a blockbuster success in terms of Indian market share. Then again, when you’ve got 1.3 billion potential customers, just a few points of additional growth can add a whole lot of cash to Apple’s bottom line.
