Apple India smartphone share tumbles

While Apple India has big plans, a new report from Strategy Analytics says the US tech giant shipped 800,000 smartphones in India in the second quarter of this year – down from 1.2 million units in the same period last year.

“Apple IOS fell 35 per cent” year-on-year, says Strategy Analytics director Woody Oh, “while its smartphone market share has halved from 4 to just 2 per cent in India during the past year.”

He says Apple should work on iPhone’s pricing in India as cheaper devices will help boost sales. Apple also needs to enlarge its retail presence through Apple stores or online channels if it wants to regrow significantly, says Oh.

But Apple CEO Tim Cook says that for the first nine months of its current fiscal year, Apple’s iPhone sales in India were up 51 per cent year-on-year. “We are looking forward to opening retail stores in India down the road… we see huge potential for that vibrant country.”

Cook says Apple has launched a centre to support Indian developers creating applications for its IOS operating system, and has opened an office in Hyderabad to accelerate map development.