While 2020 was nothing short of a nightmare for most citizens and companies around the world, it has certainly shown favor towards American multinational technology company Apple. Report from research firm Counterpoint revealed that the final quarter of the year was the best for the California-based tech giant in India, and helped Apple significantly increase its market share in the country,
The final quarter of the year saw Apple ship more than 1.5 million iPhones in India and more than 3.2 million iPhones in 2020. This resulted in Apple having a bigger bite of 4% in the Indian smartphone market pie, along with a year-on-year growth of 60%. Counterpoint has revealed that the Apple iPhone 12, Apple iPhone 11, Apple iPhone SE, and the iPhone XR were the most popular models in India during the last quarter.
Additionally, the Apple India online store has gained much popularity in India as it offered a wide range of options and lucrative perks to customers. It went Live just ahead of the Dussehra and Diwali festivals, offering options like free AirPods on the purchase of iPhone 11.
The final quarter also witnessed the popularity and sales of iPads rising by 25% when compared to the final quarter of 2019. Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG) at CMR, revealed, “Apple continues its stellar run in the India smartphone market, gaining strength on the back of increased local manufacturing and strong marketing initiatives during the festive season.”
Apple does not want to stop with the launch of the online store. The California-based company wants to open a physical retail store in India this year as well, the first of its kind. This will allow Apple to finally overcome several obstacles it has faced over the years, like the high price of its products, and the long domination of Chinese smartphone companies over the Indian market. The Apple online store will have options to overcome semantic barriers. They will help connect customers with Apple specialists, allowing communication in both Hindi and English, with other Indian languages being included over time. Apple’s India focus also includes engraving text or emojis on select Apple products in multiple Indian languages, including Bengali, Gujarat, and Tamil.
Apple has revealed that the iPhone 12 will be manufactured in India beginning early 2021in Bengaluru, at Wistron’s labs.
All in all, 2020 has been one of Apple’s best years in India. The tech giant sold nearly 8,00, 000 iPhones in India in the July-September quarter, and this was before the winter quarter turned out to be an extremely lucrative one for Apple. The annual sales volume of the Apple iPhone exceeded 3.2 million in 2020 (a growth of 60% compared to that of 2019) and doubled its share in the market.
