For more than a decade, Apple has been struggling to make inroads in emerging markets such as India. However, the Cupertino-based firm has made a remarkable turnaround in the quarter ending in December 2020.
As per the Cybermedia Research (CMR) report, Apple shipped 1.5 million iPhone units primarily driven by older iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2020), and the latest iPhone 12, marking 100% year-on-year(YoY) growth compared to the previous year same festive season (October-December), the best quarter to date. This helped the company to double its market share from less than 2% to 4%.
Over-all, Apple shipped more than 6 million iPhones throughout the year 2020, registering 60% (Y-o-Y) growth.
"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. In doing so, it continues to gain on its enduring aspirational appeal. In particular, the new 5G-capable iPhone shipments did extremely well during the fourth quarter. We believe Apple is on track to grow further and gain strength in the year ahead, as it unveils its new India initiatives on the back of its new online store, and upcoming flagship retail stores," Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, told IANS.
Even the Apple iPads too saw good sales in India. It's probably due to the demand for online classes, as most schools are only now beginning to open, that too for high school and college students, while primary and younger children are still advised to stay at home.
Apple recorded a 135%(Y-o-Y) increase in iPads sales in the Oct-December period.
It can be noted that Apple launched it official online store in late September 2020. It offers special discounts on iPads, Macs and other products for students.
This is also one of the major factors for the surge in sales growth for iPad in India.
Later tonight, Apple is slated to announce the company's fiscal-year 2021 first-quarter results. It is expected to report bumper growth and breach $100 billion revenue mark, first time in the history of the company.
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