Apple iPhone shipments grew 19 per cent (YoY) in India in its last reported quarter, according to Counterpoint Research.
Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, said the government’s move will help Apple scale up their retail operations quickly and bring more investments in the country.
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“One of the interesting trend hidden in the growth of Apple in India was that last year, similar quarter growth was driven by older iPhone 6 series contributing 2/5th of the sales and this time, it was iPhone XR contributing almost half,” said Pathak.
Riding on heavy promotional offers especially on iPhone XR, Apple regained top position in the premium smartphone segment in India in the second quarter (Q2) this year.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), in the premium ($500 or Rs 35,000 and above) segment, Apple bettered Samsung for the leadership position with an overall share of 41.2 per cent in 2Q19.
“Apple’s portfolio up till last quarter (1Q19) was driven mostly by old generation models (the non-X series) — making almost 70 per cent of total shipments,” Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, told IANS.
With the price drop, she said, the entire trend shifted, with iPhone XR alone contributing to more than 55 per cent of total Apple shipments in 2Q19.
The return of Apple in India comes at a time when the company is reportedly set to manufacture top-end iPhone XS and iPhone XR smartphones, courtesy its supplier Foxconn in the country.
Apple in April started the assembling of iPhone 7 at its supplier Wistron’s facility in Bengaluru.