Apple Is Losing The Game In India – iPhones Sales Drop By 50% In 2018

The way things are going for Apple, we can say that the company has definitely seen better days. From being the world’s best smartphone company at one point to facing the failure of not meeting expected quarterly revenues, things are looking bad for Apple.

The company’s shipments in India have shrunk to half their numbers from that of 2017 which is also is its worst performance since 2014. Although the phone offers great features, there are other flagship phones that offer better features at much cheaper rates, like China’s OnePlus.

Counterpoint Technology and CyberMedia’s Research Reports

Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research estimated Apple’s shipments to India at 1.6 – 1.7 million in 2018, whereas, CyberMedia Research estimated it at roughly 2 million. Both the numbers are less than that of 2017, which was 3.2 million.

The research director at Counterpoint Research, Neil Shah said, “Apple had been rising every year until 2017… the 2018 shipments will be at the level of 2014-15, setting them three years back in a market that has grown 50% between 2014-15 and 2018.”

Prabhu Ram, head-industry intelligence group at Cyber-Media Research said, “For Apple, 2018 has been a disastrous year in India… while Apple is still the favoured aspirational brand in India, it has definitely slipped. In comparison, the Android smartphone market in India is one that is thriving and full of innovation.”

Why has Apple failed?

In India, people prefer phones of Chinese make which have mobile phones at considerably lower costs, almost 30% to 40% lesser. Another setback for Apple’s iPhone is that they will not support 5G until 2020.

In addition to the strong competition, Apple had also offered smart deals to its customers like EMI schemes with zero down payment and cashback offers too. Analysts said that in spite of these tactics, Apple failed to attract customers.

Tim Cook’s response

In an interview to CNBC last week, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook clarified that Apple’s business in India grew from $100 to 200 million to $2 billion in 2016, and reduced drastically after that. He also said that India is still an important market for Apple and more work needs to be done to increase the sales here. He disclosed plans to open Apple stores in India which would deduct the duties on Apple products.

Another step they plan to take in cost cutting is that Apple may start re-assembling its top-end phones in India through the local unit of Foxconn Technology Co. this year. This will help in cost cutting for the customers too.