Apple saw 34% rise in iPhone sales in India in Q4 2021
India Today
Apple is still not on the list of top five smartphone brands that are currently ruling the Indian market.
Apple witnessed strong iPhone sales in the Indian market in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company saw a steep rise of 34 per cent in iPhone sales, which Apple hasn’t witnessed in any of the previous quarters. But, Apple is still not on the list of top five smartphone brands that are currently ruling the Indian market.
According to a report published by Counterpoint Research, Apple falls in the "Other category" as the company’s share of smartphone sales in India measured by units sold is less than other popular brands like Xiaomi, Samsung, Realme, Vivo and Oppo. While the iPhone-maker is behind in terms of market share in comparison to these phone makers, it generated more revenue than some of them, according to a report by Bloomberg.
This is not surprising as iPhones are sold in India at exorbitant prices and don’t cost as low as some of the best budget phones from Samsung and Xiaomi. Apple shipped about 2.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2021, while Samsung sold 7.2 million phones. Xiaomi dominated the list by shipping a total of 9.3 million units.
The reports suggest that Apple might have made $2.09 billion from iPhone sales in India in Q4 2021, despite having low sale numbers in comparison to other major brands. Samsung, on the other hand, reportedly pulled in around $2 billion.
The report suggests that the sales were driven by the aggressive offers on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 that customers witnessed during the festive season. At the end of the year, the iPhone 12 was selling at around Rs 50,000 and the new iPhone 13 was available with tempting cashback offers, which attracted a lot of users.
Apple also opened its own Indian online store and started local manufacturing of iPhones, which also worked in favour of Apple. The cited source reported that the brand even has plans to launch its own retail outlets in multiple cities in the coming months.
Commenting on Apple's performance in the Indian smartphone market last quarter, Counterpoint partner and research head Neil Shah said, “it's a turning point for Apple in India. Indians were willing to lavish money on premium phones during the pandemic because everyone's lives revolved around their devices and there was nothing else to spend on.”