Apple captured a record 75.6% chunk of the premium smartphone market in India, a report by International Data Corporation (IDC) claims.
That market segment covers handsets $500 and above. That’s undoubtedly impressive, although it’s still a fraction of the overall market in a country where the average phone price is $159 and the average annual income is $1,892.
Apple is moving some more of its iPhone production to India, as China continues to grapple with the spread of coronavirus.
Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has some details as to how coronavirus is impacting on Apple factories in China.
Apple was reportedly the fastest growing premium smartphone brand in India last year — with a massive 41% growth year-over-year. The iPhone XR wound up being the country’s most popular “ultra premium” handset, claims Counterpoint Research. This was followed by Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus and OnePlus 7 Pro.
That’s great news for Apple. But there’s still a long way to go.
Apple supplier Wistron has plans to assemble printed circuit boards for future iPhones at a new plant in southern India, a new report claims.
Wistron already manufactures iPhone 6s and 7 models in India. It started out manufacturing iPhones for the Indian market by building iPhone SE modes in 2017.
Apple has reduced the price of HomePod to $280, a further reduction on the $349 it charged initially for its smart speaker. Unfortunately, you’ll have to be living in India to take advantage of it.
Having released the HomePod in 2018 in the United States, Apple has finally launched it in India. This heavily populated market is comparable in size to China. However, Apple has not yet been able to make too many inroads in terms of sales.
Apple’s first retail store in India reportedly won‘t open in time for the launch of the 2020 iPhone. And even online sales allegedly won’t begin until the second half of this year.
There have supposedly been problems in Apple’s efforts to begin selling iPhones and other devices directly to consumers in India.
There are few big markets that Apple has yet to crack. But one of the biggest, India, it’s really struggled with. In a population of more than 1.311 billion people, Apple holds just a few measly percentage points of the local smartphone market.
But things may be looking up slightly, as a new report makes clear.
Apple contract manufacturer Wistron is reportedly ramping up its iPhone production abilities in India. Wistron already has two plants located in Bengaluru, which have been producing iPhones for the local market. But now it’s got a third, located in Narasapura, which will also build phones for Apple.
This will greatly increase Wistron’s abilities to build large quantities of iPhones for Apple.
India wants to woo Apple suppliers into opening factories in the country. To that end, it may offer attractive subsidized loans to make it more appealing.
The proposals by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology may be part of a new federal budget for February. Alongside the subsidized loans for opening factories, it would also cover “industrial zones equipped with taxation and customs clearance.”
Apple is among the parties named in a notice issued by the Delhi High Court, regarding evidence concerning a recent assault on a campus at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Apple is being asked to hand over user data that may include messages, pictures, video, and more. In other words, this sounds like another potential privacy headache for Apple.
