Apple partners with 5th iPhone distributor in India as it aims to double sales

Apple has added a fifth partner to its list of iPhone distributors in India as it continues its sales push in the country. Optiemus Group will now begin distributing iPhones with a focus on expanding to “neighborhood cellphone stores” in India. Apple is said to be targeting 2 million iPhone sales in the country during its fiscal year 2015…

News that Optiemus will begin distributing the iPhone in India comes from The Times of India, which cites three industry executives and says more partnerships are expected to follow.

The report also notes that Apple has sold a million smartphones in India during the last seven months. Naturally, Apple is said to be targeting doubling its iPhone sales numbers for each of the next three years in India.

Apple currently only has about 2% of the smartphone market in India as of the beginning of this year. Samsung sits much higher around 28% and Micromax follows with 15%, the report notes.

Apple’s success in India has been in the 30,000 Indian Rupee and up market for smartphones with even the low storage iPhone 5c carrying a similar price point. Instead of offering an even lower-end version of its smartphone in India to meet a more friendly price point, however, Apple has relied on various financing options through resellers to bring down the cost of buying an iPhone.

In related India news, we learned last week that iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is believed to be planning to expand its assembly operations into India with 10-12 factories and data centers in the country over the next five years. While the move is believed to be focused on lowering the cost to build iPhones, it could potentially lower the price of the iPhone for customers in India as an added bonus.