Apple's iPhone 5
As India?s smartphone market hovers on explosive growth comes the surprising news that Apple Apple?s iPhone sales have tripped in the first quarter of 2013. In a market where the world?s biggest device makers are revving up their marketing machine, IDC reports that iPhone sales fell steeply to nearly half its previous quarter sales.
India is a vital market for global phone makers as only 6 % of its 867 cellphone users have smartphones. Experts predict that the next growth surge will come as the world?s second largest cellphone market transitions from feature phones to smart phones. This year, the smartphone market is expected to grow at a blistering 80-90 percent.
To grab this opportunity, the world?s biggest smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung and Nokia Nokia have been ruthlessly competing with each other in offering EMI?s, cash discounts and buyback bonuses ? all geared to making the phones more affordable to young Indians.
Apple has woken to the India market only recently. The country did not figure prominently in its sales strategy and, anyway, its high-priced devices had been out of the reach for most of price-sensitive India. After its marketing drive, however, sales jumped. According to Credit Suisse, monthly iPhone sales spurted from 80,000 to 400,000 in the last quarter of 2012 to become the second-best selling smartphone in India. But now comes the news that sales have slacked off considerably after.
The Indian market craves cheaper models and frequent new releases. Apple does not cater to either demand. Its mightily aggressive Korean competitor Samsung blitzes the market with new models and recently even launched a sub-$100 smartphone. Indian brands such as Karbonn and Micromax too are flooding the market with snazzy-looking, value-for-money models.
Apple will have to change its Cupertino-centric strategy and offer a diverse range of smart phones for India. It will have to release more than a model a year. It will have to come out with devices for different price segments. Unless it does, Apple is likely to lose the smart phone war in one of the world?s most crucial markets.
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