Apple’s market share in India, the world’s third-largest smartphone market, is 2.4pc. The country is an Android paradise.
The Indian smartphone market is growing significantly. As more established markets reach saturation point and sales slow, the Indian market has grown by almost one-fifth in the past year.
Q2 figures in 2015 were 25.8m units sold, soaring to 30.7m this year, with only China and the US ahead of India in terms of sales volume.
However, as sales soar – Android has added 28pc to its total unit sales – Apple falls away, with its 1.2m sales in Q2 last year dropping back to 0.8m in 2016. The end result is a massive 97pc market share for Android. Emphatic.
“Android dominates the India smartphone market and 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,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, which compiled the figures.
Apple recently announced its billionth iPhone sale worldwide, nine years since the device was launched. The company’s $42.4bn Q3 revenues saw a global profit of $7.8bn, with 40m iPhones sold in the period.
Lowering price points would appear to be the only way to tap into the Indian market, something Apple has been reluctant to do in the past.
The iPhone SE was the company’s recent attempt to put its premium device in the pocket of those less likely to part with relatively excessive sums of money.
“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,” said Woody Oh, director of Strategy Analytics.
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