Apple will soon become the eleventh smartphone brand to cross the 10-million mark in India. This is an outstanding feat for Apple, given India’s price-sensitive market where almost half of the smartphones are still sold below INR 10,000.
Having said that, iPhone X, the priciest phone ever, became the bestselling premium smartphone in India with a share of 21% in the premium smartphone market. In 2018, Apple plans on repeating the trifecta by launching three new iPhones with designs similar to the iPhone X.
There were 8.9 million iPhone users in India at the end of 2017. Now with the upcoming launch of the three new smartphones and the price drop of iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, this number is bound to increase a lot more.
Although overall, Apple’s numbers are very less in comparison to those of the new smartphone market leader Xiaomi, which had 28 million users at the end of 2017. However, if Apple pushes its ‘Make in India’ plans more aggressively, the 10,000 million milestone will be achieved sooner through the year.
Currently, Apple assembles only its iPhone SE in India and has a 2-3% share of the smartphone market. It does lead the INR 30,000 segment with a 44% share.
Local production is key for the company to expand its share as it will help reduce the price range. Apple understands this and is looking at making India an export hub. It is working on fresh proposals as a part of its negotiations with the Indian government and has been discussing possibilities for tax breaks and incentives to produce iPhones and expand operations.
