No Apple, it isn't 4G but cheaper, older iPhones growing your sales in India

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple Inc, is upbeat about India. 

Although it was yet another disappointing quarter for Apple with its revenue falling by 9%, Cook stressed on 4G investments in India's telecom market for 50% higher iPhone sales in the country. 

The company did manage to sell more iPhones as against third quarter but sales and revenues dropped 5% and 13% when compared against the same three months of last year. China continued to lead the fall with a 30% drop in revenue on an year-on-year basis. 

However, in India, Apple continues to see a growth. 

"Our iPhone sales in India were up over 50% in fiscal 2016 compared to the prior year, and we believe we're just beginning to scratch the surface of this large and growing market opportunity,” Cook said.

He, however, noted that Apple's smartphone has “not done as well” in India in general and one of the key reasons for that is the “(high-speed telecom networks) infrastructure hasn't been there”.

“But this year or this year and next year, there are enormous investments going in on 4G and we couldn't be more excited about that because it really takes a great network working with iPhone to produce that great experience for people,” he said.

Source: Statista

According to Counterpoint Research, Apple Inc has only 2.2% of India's smartphone market-share selling 2.5 million iPhone between October 2015 to September 2016. 

The reason for this is the high price of iPhones. 

The research firm believes that Apple was able to increase its iPhone sales in India not because of new launches like the iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6 Plus, 6S or even iPhone 6 but the older phones. 

For instance, the iPhone 5s, which is now available in the sub Rs 20,000 price category, accounts for over 40% of the iPhone sales during the quarter, according to Neil Shah, Research Director of Counterpoint Research. 

The sales of the iPhone 5s was around 450,000 units in India, he said.

Even the iPhone SE, which was launched as a cheaper option to people looking to experience the Apple ecosystem, was launched at a price of over Rs 40,000 in India. 

Over Rs 40,000 smartphone market in India accounts for only 3-4% of total smartphone sales. 

At the current high price point of its latest iPhones, the total market available to it is around 8-10 million units per year, said Shah. 

Apple needs to get more phones in the sub Rs 25,000 price range in order to increase its sales.  
 
(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)