Apple BKC Store in Mumbai.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
In 2017, Apple began local assembling of iPhones in India starting with iPhone SE (1st Gen) at the Wistron's plant in Peenya, an industrial hub west of Bengaluru. Since then, Apple's other supply partners such as Foxconn, Pegatron and Tata Electronics have set up multiple plants in South India including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
Later in 2020, it opened an online store followed by launching two fully owned retail shops-- Apple BKC (Mumbai) and Apple Saket (Delhi). The latter two clocked around Rs 190-200 crore revenue in the 2023-24 financial year.
Now, for the first time, Apple has broken into the top 5 smartphone brands list in India with a 10 per cent share in Q4 2024, as per IDC (International Data Corporation)'s latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report.
The Cupertino-based company hit a milestone of 12 million iPhone shipments in India and registered 35 per cent Year-over-Year growth over the previous year. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 were the highest-shipped models, accounting for 6 per cent of overall shipments during the quarter.
With this, India became Apple's fourth biggest market after China, the United States of America and Japan.
With each passing year, Apple and its partners are steadily increasing their investments in India, which is not only the world's fastest-growing smartphone market but also the second-biggest market after China.
With growing competition from local brands Huawi and Xiaomi, Apple is witnessing slowdown in shipments in China, and in the US, iPhone penetration is getting saturated. Now, India is emerging as the next big growth engine for Apple.
Last month, the company launched Apple Store mobile app and later this year, Apple has plans to open four new physical stores in India including Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai.
In the recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said-- "We have great results in a number of emerging markets, and as you know from past calls, (we are) particularly keen on India. India set a December-quarter record during the quarter, and we’re opening more stores there, we’ve announced that we’re going to open four new stores there. The iPhone was the top selling model in India for the quarter, and it’s the second largest smartphone market in the world and the third largest for PCs and tablets, and so there’s a huge market, and we have very modest share in these markets, and so I think there’s lots of upside there, and that’s just one of the emerging markets.
In India, overall phone shipments saw 4 per cent year-over-year growth in Q4. Vivo, Samsung, Oppo and Xiaomi grabbed the top three positions with 16.6 per cent, 13.2 per cent, 12 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
It should be noted that the Carl Pei-helmed Nothing Inc. registered the highest growth overall, followed by Motorola and iQOO annually.
Besides price cuts on old models and affordable financing options, the 5G and Artificial Intelligence features are expected to further drive smartphone shipments in 2025.
“With a low single-digit growth in 2024, growth in 2025 hinges on a stronger performance in the mass segment (US$100<US$200) and more offerings in the entry-premium segment (US$200<US$400) for upgraders. Generative AI features and use cases will start being key differentiators, moving beyond flagship models and becoming more prevalent across different price points. Online-focused long-tail brands will venture offline to sustain growth. However, the weakening rupee could impact ASPs, potentially restricting annual growth to below 5 per cent in 2025," said Navkendar Singh, associate vice president, Devices Research, IDC India.
While 5G smartphone shipments steadily picking pace, feature phones are seeing decline in sale.
In India, 54 million feature phones were shipped annually, declining by 11 per cent YoY. Transsion continued to lead with a 30 per cent share, followed by Nokia and Lava, IDC reported.
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