In its pursuit for smartphone market share dominance, Apple has an intense battle ahead in India. The world's third largest smartphone market is leaning toward Android as opposed to iOS, which should sound alarm bells for the Cupertino-based company.
According to data gathered by research firm Strategy Analytics on Indian smartphone sales, in Q2 2016 Apple shipped only 800,000 smartphones in the country. In comparison, Android shipped 29.8 million smartphones in the same period. This number is not only dismal, but a 35 percent decrease from the 1.2 million handsets Apple shipped in India in Q2 2015.
The data also reveal that Android is continuing to rule the roost in the Indian market and in Q2 2016 accounted for more than 97 percent smartphones running on the OS. This is a steady increase compared to the 90 percent in Q2 2015.
Overall smartphone shipments in India saw a 19 percent growth as the country is projected to purchase 139 million devices in 2016. Interestingly, a majority of the smartphones will be Android handsets that are priced cheaper than $150.
India holds the distinction of being the third biggest smartphone market in the world, lagging behind China and the U.S. Android smartphone sales saw a healthy increase of 28 percent in Q2 2016 compared to Q2 2015.
In contrast, judging by the numbers, the future looks grim for Apple. If the company is to reclaim the market share in India it will need to take some drastic steps, which include considering the pricing of the iPhone.
"Apple's smartphone marketshare 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," shared Woody Oh, Director of Strategy Analytics.
Even though the 4-inch iPhone SE from Apple is priced lower than the older iPhones from the company, it still falls in the midrange price point for the price sensitive Indian consumer. Apple was even forced to discount the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6s in India a month after their launch in 2015 due to low sales for the handsets. Customers were deterred by the smartphones' steep pricing and in a bid to lure back consumers, Apple had to take the strategic call.
Apart from Android smartphones being inexpensive when compared to iOS ones, another factor that boosts the former's sales is that a bulk of apps for Android devices are cheaper when compared to those on the App Store. Moreover, Android OEMs have established distribution channels at their disposal.
If Apple wants to establish a foothold in the Indian smartphone space, it will have to come up with an effective plan quickly before it is too late.
Photo: George Thomas | Flickr
