Apple with its conservative approach in India had not made major inroads (in terms of market share) in the country. But in the last two years it seems to be the upping the ante here, and the results are already visible. Apple just had a record 2021, its best ever in terms of market numbers.
According to the market research firm CMR, Apple shipped 5.4 million iPhones to India in the entire year, and 2.2 million in the festive quarter (Q4) alone.
The Cupertino-headquartered tech behemoth showed 34% growth in the October-December period. It is likely to achieve a respectable 4.4% market share in the competitive premium segment in which it operates.
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The secret behind Apple's numbers in India
Its operating revenue in India surged 68% to a record Rs 22,845 crore in FY21, while net profit rose 32% to Rs 1,226 crore. For FY22, its India revenue (through all Apple devices and not just iPhones) it is expected to go beyond Rs 30,000 crore for the first time.
So how did Apple pull this off, especially at a time when production schedules have been hit everywhere due to global chip shortage and Covid-19 restrictions? The news agency IANS quoting Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, said, "the key to Apple’s market performance is in the fact that it was able to manage and diversify its supply chains through the pandemic. In India, for instance, Apple is working with multiple ODMs to produce its flagship iPhone models.”
Apple India not only increased its share of iPhones manufactured locally, but also came up with smart retail initiatives. This twin-gambit is paying the company rich dividends. The benefit of local manufacturing is that the phones are cheaper than imported ones. For example, by locally producing iPhone 12, Apple was able to cut the landing cost by about 22%. Apple was able to cut the price on the base model by Rs 14,000 to Rs 65,900 in September.
iPhone 12 tops the charts
The CMR report said the iPhone 12 was the top-selling phone from Apple in India last year. It logged in an impressive 40% share among the Apple phones. It was followed by iPhone 11, SE (2020), iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max models. In the July-September period (Q3), Apple had shipped over 1.53 million iPhone units in the country.
Apple's days ahead also looks impressive as iPhone SE 2022 edition is likely to be out in the first half of the year. What more, the latest baby in the series, the iPhone 13, will go in for domestic production with the Apple assembler Foxconn's facility in Tamil Nadu opening a separate assembly line for the same.
Aside from this, the older generation models are also likely to be made more accessible in the market as the other assemblers like Wistron and Pegatron are expected to chip in with their share. All in all, Apple seems to be in a good space in India. But, of course, the competition, especially from the Chinese brands and the South Korean giant Samsung is intense. To put in perspective, Apple has about 50 million users in India which has more than 500 million Android users.
Apple will need to replicate its good show, and that will hinge on how well it keeps its domestic manufacturing and supply lubricated.
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