IPhone Sales Drops Record Low In India

India is one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world. At a time owning an Apple phone was a pride, that is not happening now, with more advanced hand phones are available in India, the best reason of being high priced of the phone, and the Chinese brands have taken the competition to the level of war. Now a question comes on how Apple will sustain in India as a premium brand by maintaining it’s legacy?

The sales of iPhone in India dropping around 40% in Q1 2019 as compared to the same time last year. Apple reported selling close to 47 million iPhones worldwide and the report says they are still struggling to affordable in India, where high import duties and price-sensitive consumers have translated to languid sales. When we see the figure India’s smartphone market almost 150 million units in 2018 from about 80 million in 2014, just double the mark. Whereas, the shipment of Apple had touched just to 1.6-1.7 million now – a market share of about 1.2% - compared with 1.5 million in 2014.

Apple had failed miserably to attract buyers even after offering EMI schemes, zero down-payment and cashback plans etc by tying up with various banks. The question comes when it is getting produced in India by HMD Global as the OEM, why Apple can’t reduce the price and secondly, the marketing strategy of Apple doesn’t work in India . “Local manufacturing will help them bring down the price. But they need to understand that the definition of premium has changed in India after the arrival of OnePlus.

Apple still considers India an important market and has “more work to do,” the CEO Tim Cook said. The company wants to open its own stores in India and would like duties on its products to be cut. Even if they manage to bring down the price, their phones will be available in the leagues of premium smartphones by Samsung and Google, and that market is less than 1%.”

Apple is still the favoured Most Trusted Brand in India, but the market share has slipped . In comparison to the Android smartphone market in India, which is one that is thriving and full of innovation. As per CMR anticipates an almost 45% decline on year in iPhone shipments in Q4 2018 and shipments of 2 million units for the full calendar year. As per Counterpoint Research , the stickiness factor for iPhones is reducing fast because phones have become a commodity.

“Chinese brands have 30-40% cheaper pricing than Apple. It doesn’t make sense to pay sky-high prices for a product that doesn’t have new features,” he said, adding that iPhones won’t even support 5G until 2020. The prices of iPhones are shrinking its potential base, even among existing users who are due to replace their devices. The main competition seems is OnePlus and Samsung phones.

The market size of Indian smartphone market is about 80 million in 2014 when Apple shipped 1.5 million to now 2018nd now the market has touched the mark of 150 million and still Apple is shipping around 1.6-1.7 million, or a market share of 1.2%, according to Counterpoint.

Apple shipped about 400,000 iPhones in October-December, according to Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research. In comparison, OnePlus, the leader in the premium segment, shipped an estimated 500,000 units. Now the estimate says, this year in 2019,Apple to touch 1.65 million units of iPhone, by posting a 10%-17% YoY drop and over 50% decline from the peak of iPhone sales in 2017.

Another survey reveals that, Apple is currently paying 20% tax on every imported handset in the country, it makes the products costlier in comparison. Local manufacturing seems to be the only way for Apple to make the iPhone more pocket-friendly in a country known for price sensitivity. Apple iPhone seems to losing the legacy much faster than expected earlier.