Apple

Apple sold 2.5 million iPhones in India throughout 2016; the company claims first place in premium smartphone segment

by Plamen Dimitrov / Jan 27, 2017, 4:36 AM

Apple sold 2.5 million iPhones in India throughout 2016; the company claims first place in premium smartphone segment

Apple's influence on the Indian smartphone market is gradually increasing, according to the latest statistics from Counterpoint Research. Cupertino managed to sell around 2.5 million iPhones in the South Asian country throughout last year, with a third of total shipments coming from sales of the iPhone 7 in Q4 2016. During the same period, Apple managed to grab the 10th place in smartphone rankings for the first time in India, and became the leader in the premium handset segment (above $450), holding 62% of the market share.

Tim Cook & Co. have employed various strategies in order to entice Indian consumers. The release of the more affordable iPhone SE specifically targeted developing countries, and recently, the company expressed serious interest in manufacturing its products in India. Such a move would allow Cupertino to dot the Indian landscape with Apple Stores and could potentially alleviate one of the iPhone's biggest cons for the local population – the price.

Most smartphones bought in the country cost $150 or less, which is far from the asking price of any iPhone. This is why the current market is dominated by Asian corporations. Samsung is placed first for 2016, accounting for a quarter of total handset sales, but these conditions are also perfect for mid-range Chinese manufacturers. Lenovo, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo captured a combined 46% of total smartphone shipments in Q4 2016, pushing Indian companies out of the top 5 for the first time.

via CNET

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37 Comments

1. Papa_Ji

Posts: 853; Member since: Jun 27, 2016

Even Samsung Z1 Tizen easily f**k down all iCraps together ..... ha ha ha ha

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 4:44 AM 17

2. Myphoneisonfire

Posts: 403; Member since: Sep 05, 2016

The most selling iPhone is 2016 in India was the outdated and heavily discounted iPhone 5s followed by the heavily discounted iPhone 6 16gb which are still over priced.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 5:03 AM 16

3. RajRicardo

Posts: 496; Member since: Feb 28, 2014

Yep. iPhone 6 16GB costs $460 and iPhone 5s 16GB $310 in India. :/ iPhone 7 plus 32gb costs a whooping $1110.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 5:27 AM 11

4. mrochester

Posts: 1000; Member since: Aug 17, 2014

You have to remember that India is relatively poor.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 5:32 AM 1

11. RajRicardo

Its not that India is poor, 90% of the countrys' wealth is in the hands of 1% population. Even US has similar imbalance and its starting to show. Also India is a totally different economy compared to the west.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 7:00 AM 6

20. Bernoulli

Posts: 4360; Member since: Sep 01, 2012

....and it's starting to show. Um where? How? Seriously? Bro don't talk out of your ass, it's unhealthy.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 3:31 PM 0

21. kiko007

Posts: 7493; Member since: Feb 17, 2016

So basically...... India is poor?

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 4:52 PM 0

8. Tyrion_Lannister unregistered

I would say that's true. No career subsidies are available in India. Add that with the 1000$+ cost of the latest iPhones and the relatively low income of an Indian(1500$ per annum compared to around 50000$+ for developed countries) and it becomes clear. People can't afford Apple phones in India. Very few can, but that's still a very small market considering the population.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 6:55 AM 4

5. Sidewinder

Posts: 515; Member since: Jan 15, 2015

In India, people buy iphones for bragging rights or just to show off their status in the society. Even a iPhone 5 is considered as a big thing here and bragged about.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 6:16 AM 3

6. joey_sfb

Posts: 6794; Member since: Mar 29, 2012

If you need to brag about your wealth than you are not truly wealthy.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 6:34 AM 0

7. TheOracle1

Posts: 2299; Member since: May 04, 2015

Like Donald Chump? Cr4pple can open all the stores they like and manufacture there if they want but prices will always cripple their sales. If they lower prices for India then international buyers will just buy the Indian models. They need a new midrange model at about $250 for India. Even Mercedes and BMW which are premium brands have had to start selling lower to midrange cars.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 6:54 AM 0

17. lyndon420

Posts: 6793; Member since: Jul 11, 2012

Tell that to the douche who bought 2 rose gold apple watches for his dog lol. The poor dog didn't look too impressed lol.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 8:05 AM 0

9. Tyrion_Lannister unregistered

I live in India and an iPhone 5 is certainly not considerd a big thing here. Even exaggeration has its limits.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 6:58 AM 7

14. Stranger

Posts: 73; Member since: Jan 19, 2017

True. btw which city in India are you from turion?

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 7:50 AM 0

15. Stranger

Tyrion

18. AmashAziz

Posts: 2930; Member since: Jun 30, 2014

Wait a minute.......I am your neighbour then. From Pakistan! You understand urdu/hindi?

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 12:43 PM 0

22. Tyrion_Lannister unregistered

I can speak hindi and I guess I can understand urdu since they are pretty close.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 10:14 PM 2

25. AmashAziz

Watched Raees?

posted on Jan 28, 2017, 5:16 AM 0

10. cmdacos

Posts: 4220; Member since: Nov 01, 2016

Same in North America

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 6:58 AM 0

12. RajRicardo

bragging rights? Lol my watchman has an Iphone 5 and my cab driver brought a 6S last year.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 7:01 AM 3

35. pixelated

Posts: 108; Member since: May 03, 2015

I'm from Hyderabad, India & saw a cab driver having iPhone 6. What could I say more!

posted on Jan 29, 2017, 3:33 AM 0

36. pixelated

13. HugoBarraCyanogenmod

Posts: 1412; Member since: Jul 06, 2014

Who cares about iPhone, it's Republic day!

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 7:24 AM 4

16. KingSam

Posts: 1453; Member since: Mar 13, 2016

2.5 million people? That's Jamaica's population.

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 7:52 AM 6

27. leftheodo

Posts: 108; Member since: Oct 21, 2011

In a country with a population of 1.1 billion people, 2.5 million is a very small percentage...

posted on Jan 28, 2017, 7:36 AM 0

19. boosook

Posts: 1442; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

Most of them are probably iphone 5s, or SE, so it's not really in the premium segment...

posted on Jan 27, 2017, 2:46 PM 1

23. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

IPhones aremt premium to begin with. PA and the fanclub just think they are. A phone with a 750p display or less is premium? So them what is 1440p? Deluxe? Platnium?

posted on Jan 28, 2017, 1:28 AM 3

26. AmashAziz

It is the experience whic makes a smartphone premium, not the features.

posted on Jan 28, 2017, 5:17 AM 0

28. kiko007

No point in explaining that to him. He's socially autistic, so he doesn't get that people give f**k all about his sorry excuse for an opinion.

posted on Jan 28, 2017, 8:09 AM 0

29. MrElectrifyer

Posts: 3960; Member since: Oct 21, 2014

What experience? Do share what you refer to by this "experience" you gain from what's meant to be a tool. I've owned iPhones for over half a decade, and the only experience I've had is that they're not worth using officially, and definitely aren't worth their official price tag. Always got to be jailbroken to be worth anything. Officially, they're still too dumb to do stuff even a dumb phone is capable of...