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India managed to outrank countries like France and Germany as the fifth-largest iPhone market in Apple’s second quarter. It is a first time for India, but it is unsurprising, given Apple’s recent moves to expand its business in the country. Yet, while this is good news, Apple remains an underdog in the Indian market as it is still being dominated by several smartphone brands.
Counterpoint Research (via CNBC) shared the details about the matter this week, saying India accounted for 4% of all iPhone sales of Apple in the second quarter of this year. This translates to a 50% year-on-year growth, allowing India to join Apple’s other top iPhone markets, including the UK, Japan, China, and the US.
According to the research, Apple’s influence in the Indian market is growing. As the research firm noted, Apple garnered a total of 5.1% share in India’s overall smartphone market by the end of June. This is an appealing increase compared to the 3.4% share the company had last year during the same period, especially since the Indian market is known for catering to a lot of smartphone brands.
In the latest data from Stat Counter, Apple is only in seventh place among the biggest mobile vendors in India. Xiaomi is at the top spot with a 21.76% share, followed by Vivo (17.39%), Samsung (14.35%), Realme (13.03%), Oppo (1.92%), and unknown brands (6.27%).
The rank, nonetheless, is expected to change in the coming years as Apple tries to expand its business in India, eyeing it as a huge potential market for its products. To recall, the Cupertino company opened the doors of its first physical stores in India in April, specifically the Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in Delhi.
Apple’s move to bring some of its iPhone assembly deals to India could also aid the company to better establish its name in the country. To recall, the Tata Group is set to become India’s first local company to handle an iPhone assembly business by acquiring Wistron’s iPhone factory in the southern Karnataka state. Foxconn also bought equipment from Apple recently, indicating the company’s business expansion in India.
Moreover, the research indicates that the premium smartphone section in the Indian market is growing, which could further lead to the continuous growth of the iPhone brand in the country in the future. Ankit Malhotra, senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research, said that Apple saw this and “has taken advantage of” it.
