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iPhone sales drop drastically in India as Apple continues to struggle for relevance


India is noted for its rich healthy growth in the smartphone market, coming behind China and the United States respectively as the third largest.

However, there are major challenges still arising for Apple Inc. to surpass in finally establishing its presence in India. According to a new report from Strategy Analytics – (a market research firm), Apple’s iPhone experienced a nosedive in sales from 2105 – 2016, managing 35 percent of iPhone devices sold so far this year.

Recall, earlier in May; Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledge the high cost of iPhones in India, directly harming and affecting the company’s sales figure as it tries to grow. The reports analysis from the Strategy Analytics reveals that, in the Q2 of 2016 – Apple can only boast of 800,000 handsets sold for now as against last year Q2 when the company records 1.2 million units sold. Clearly, these sales results are not going down well with Apple. Its market share in India is largely affected considering the depreciating value from 4.5 percent in Q2 2015 to 2.4 percent in Q2 2016.

Nevertheless, Apple can still resuscitate its giant image and corrects its struggling nature in the country and re-boost its retail presence on a high in India. Director of Strategy Analytics, Woody Oh, suggested this points; “Apple iOS fell 35 percent annually and shipped 0.8 million smartphones in India in Q2 2016.

Apple’s smartphone market share has halved from 4 percent to just 2 percent in India during the past year. 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 regrow significantly in the future.”

Meanwhile, India’s foreign direct investments policy hinders Apple in expanding its stores massively unlike its norm in other countries. The policy simply request 30 percent of goods sold by a foreign company must be produced within India. But, after a ruling in June, which amend the policy thereby granting companies to continue their business production and seeing Indian Prime Minister - Narendra Modi honored Apple with a three-year extension due to its remarkable global brand selling status.

In light of these, Apple will tend to speedily move forward, not forgetting Android from Google remains a strong dominant force in India.

Overall, in the Q2 2016 - Google's Android records 29.8 million smartphones shipped in India. That result is a progress from 23.2 million compared to same quarter earnings of 2015. More so, Google's Android operating system retained a dominant structure in the Indian mobile market boasting from a percentage rise of 90 last year quarter to 97 percent same quarter this year.

An overview of Apple's retail future in India projects market sales gradually shaping up, still minor challenges plays its part towards recording the much needed increasing sales figures as expected in India.

Not to mention in May, Apple was refused by the Indian government to sell used iPhones in the country majorly because of its inconsistent growth, and policy frustrations.

Going by Apple's rival, the Android - largely controlling the Indian smartphone market with rich values. Strategy Analytics said Android, "looks unbeatable right now, due to its deep portfolio of hardware partners, extensive distribution channels, and a wide range of low-cost apps like Gmail."

It's obvious Apple needs to urgently restructure its image brand in India for optimal performance. Do you disagree? Let us know in the comments below or on any of our social media pages!



Via: | Mac Rumors |


Source: | Strategy Analytics |


Image: | Mac Rumors |

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