Riding high on festive season sales and iPhone 15 launch, Apple attained an all-time high 7% market share in India in Q4 2023 even as the overall market grappled with inventory and demand issues.
Apple’s Strategic Festive Offers Power 50% Q4 Volume
Apple stole the spotlight in India’s smartphone market in the October-December 2023 quarter by shipping a record number of iPhones to capture 7% share, its highest ever, reports market research firm Canalys. The impressive performance was powered by strong festive season demand in November when Apple offered discounts and financing deals on its latest iPhone 15 lineup as well as previous models like the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13. Over 50% of Apple’s Q4 shipments were from iPhone 15 models.
Market Rebounds 20% Overall Despite Persistent Headwinds The fasting growing premium segment, easy finance options and sales incentives helped push India’s overall smartphone shipments to 38.9 million units in Q4 2023, up 20% year-over-year. However, Canalys notes the market faced continuing struggles like inventory buildups, weak consumer confidence early on and fluctuating demand. For the full year, shipments declined 2% to 148.6 million units. Resilience returned in late 2023 with stronger holiday purchases.
2024 Outlook Cautiously Optimistic Looking ahead, Canalys expects mid-single digit shipment growth for India’s smartphone market in 2024, thanks largely to the expanding affordability of 5G devices and natural replacement demand after the pandemic. However, vendors will continue facing significant cost pressures on device components and bills of materials, posing an ongoing challenge to profitability.
Samsung maintained first place with 20% share while Xiaomi, Vivo and Realme rounded out the top five vendors. Overall, Canalys says India’s smartphone market has shown notable stability given difficult macroeconomic conditions.
