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Apple India

Nine 'Apple India' stories December 2014 - December 2018
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WSJ report details extremely unpopular iPhone in India as Apple sees diminishing success

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Dec 18 2018 - 1:10 pm PT
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Apple iPhone India

A report from the Wall Street Journal today details Apple’s minuscule success in India with iPhone, specifically highlighting Amit Rajput, who runs a counter selling iPhones in the country with a population of over 1.3 billion. Rajput spoke on how one iPhone sale a day is considered ‘lucky’, with his coworkers at the Samsung, Oppo and Nokia counters selling well over ten devices daily.

The sales decline comes as a stark contrast to 2013, where Rajput recalled selling 80 iPhones per day. He says today, most Indian consumers don’t spend more than $300 on a smartphone — reducing Apple’s presence in the country dramatically.


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Cook meeting with major carriers in India to forge ‘strategic partnerships’ for LTE rollout

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 18 2016 - 5:44 am PT
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Photo: Eric Risberg/AP Photo

The Economic Times reports that Tim Cook is meeting with the heads of major carriers in India in order to form ‘strategic partnerships’ as the country accelerates its LTE rollout. The smartphone market in India has so far been constrained by slow data speeds in most parts of the country.

Cook has said the advent of high-speed 4G networks in India will expand the market for iPhones, flagging elsewhere, making it a key market for the company.

Cook is said to be meeting with Bharti Airtel, the largest carrier in the country; Reliance Jio Infocomm, which plans to roll out LTE services nationwide this year; as well as Vodafone and others …


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India reportedly rejects Apple’s plans to sell used iPhones in the country after opposition by Samsung & others

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 3 2016 - 6:28 am PT
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Bloomberg speculates that India could refuse to grant Apple permission to sell used iPhones in the country citing comments from a telecommunications ministry official today.

The U.S. company’s application has been turned down, the official said, asking to not be identified, citing official policy [while] Apple declined to comment.

Apple had hoped that used iPhone sales would be a good way to get a foothold in a country where its market share is just 2%, and where 80% of phones cost less than $150. Its iPhone Upgrade Program in the United States gave the company a plentiful supply of used phones that it could have sold at much lower prices in India without sacrificing margin, which must have seemed like the perfect plan … 


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Apple’s ‘cutting-edge technology’ means it will be allowed to open retail stores in India – local report

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Apr 28 2016 - 6:22 am PT
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A report back in February that Apple would be allowed to open retail stores in India has been corroborated by India’s Economic Times. India normally doesn’t allow single-brand retail stores unless at least 30% of their products are made within the country, but Apple is reportedly set to be granted an exemption on the grounds that its products are ‘cutting-edge technology.’

A government panel has recommended exempting Apple from mandatory local sourcing norms, a move which would pave the way for Apple to open single-brand retail stores in the country. “The committee has found that the company’s products are cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art. It has recommended to exempt them from the local sourcing norms,” sources said.

The exemption is a pretty big deal for Apple …


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Tim Cook met with India’s Prime Minister, discussed Apple Pay, iPhone 6s, possible manufacturing

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 28 2015 - 5:19 am PT
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Shortly after Tim Cook met with the Chinese President, Apple’s CEO has met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as expected. The Times of India reports that the two of them discussed the possibility of bringing Apple Pay to the country, and Prime Minister Modi invited Apple to set up a manufacturing base in the country.

Cook was said to have “responded positively” to the idea, though nothing more specific was announced. We’ve known for some time that Foxconn has plans to build multiple factories in India, but neither company has confirmed that these would be manufacturing products for Apple. Foxconn carries out contract manufacturing for a number of high-profile brands.

Apple does, however, have one strong incentive to manufacture iPhones in India … 
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Apple’s retail expansion in India underway, 100+ of 500 resellers reportedly selected

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 27 2015 - 5:23 am PT
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Apple’s plan to establish 500 mobile-focused reseller stores in India is reportedly well underway, with NDTV Gadgets reporting that more than 100 of the partners for its Authorised Mobility Resellers (AMR) program have already been signed-up.

Apple seems to have already identified the cities, and indeed the areas within these cities where it wants to open the new stores, as a job listing on Apple’s website says the responsibility of Program Manager – AMR is to select store locations “within identified micro markets within a city” (emphasis ours).

An Apple-appointed contractor is building the stores’ interiors to ensure that they conform to Apple’s design and size requirements, before handing them back to the third-party resellers to operate. The partners are reportedly being selected by Apple on the basis of their track-record in selling Apple products.

Apple is said to be focusing on building market share in the company, and will, unusually, allow AMRs to discount iPhones below the official retail price.

Apple’s easy finance initiatives in India pay off as local revenue breaks a billion dollars – report

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Apr 8 2015 - 6:29 am PT
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Times of India is reporting that Apple is expected to have hit $1B in revenue in India in the financial year ended on 31st March – up 42% year-on-year, and a tripling of revenue over the past three years. India is one of the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) where Apple is expecting to see a large chunk of its future growth.

It had previously been reported that Apple sold half a million iPhones in the final calendar quarter of 2014, and Cybermedia Research estimates that it sold 1.3M phones in the full financial year. If true, “over $1B revenue is inevitable,” says the report … 
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Apple sold half a million iPhones in India in Q4 2014 vs 1M in whole of 2013

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 12 2015 - 5:42 am PT
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An Apple reseller in India (photo: indiaprwire.com)

Data from Counterpoint Research, and corroborated by two “leading trade partners,” suggests that Apple sold half a million iPhones in India during the final quarter of 2014, reports the Economic Times. This compares to around a million phones during the whole of 2013.

Apple has also halved the credit period offered to resellers, from the standard 14 days offered by most manufacturers to 7 days, and sliced between 0.5% and 1% offered the 9-11% margins offered on iPhones (rates varying by sales performance). The company is promising to invest the savings in consumer financing offers and marketing, to assist resellers in increasing sales.

Apple operates through a mix of Apple Premium Resellers and Apple Shop sections within other retailers in the country. It was reported in December that its plans to expand its reseller network into smaller towns and cities, adding 500 new dealers.

Apple planning to support 500 Apple resellers in India, focusing on iOS devices – report

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Dec 5 2014 - 4:56 am PT
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An Apple Premium Reseller store in India

Times of India has put numbers on its earlier claim that Apple was planning to open a collection of iOS-centric stores in India. It now says that Apple plans to support 500 new resellers in the country as part of a major expansion program into smaller towns and cities, where Samsung currently dominates.

Apple reportedly sold a million iPhones in India in the 12 months to September 2014, helped in part by a cheaper 8GB version of the iPhone 5c, and is said to expect sales to treble in the following 12 months following the rollout of the iPhone 6 in October … 
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