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The iPhone 15 series will help Apple to expand its dominance in India. According to the new report of Counterpoint Research (via Reuters), the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will play a huge role in this.
According to the report, the brand will constitute 7% of the entire smartphone sales in India from July to December. This translates to an increase from its former 5% share in the year’s first half. Meanwhile, the Pro models of the series are expected to contribute 25% of the general iPhone 15 shipments in the country in the coming fourth quarter. It will be a 4% growth from the last Pro model’s performance last year.
This reflects an earlier report shared by the research firm, suggesting that the premium smartphone section in the Indian market has been growing. Ankit Malhotra, senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research, said that Apple saw this and “has taken advantage of” it.
Nabila Popal, an IDC research director, corroborated this idea in Reuters’ report, revealing that Apple owned a 67% share of the smartphone segment priced over $800 in India during the first half of the year. This placed a huge gap between Apple and its rival Samsung, which only gained a 31% share in the said section.
“The premium smartphone market in India has climbed tremendously from 0.8% of the total market in 2019 to 6.1% in the first half of 2023 and this is largely attributed to Apple’s success,” Popal told the media outlet.
In general, this affirms Apple’s growing business in India. 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. According to a recent report, India has also transformed into one of Apple’s biggest iPhone markets this year, making it the fifth most significant country for the Cupertino giant.
However, iPhone sales are not the only reason India’s value for Apple is growing. As shared in the past months, Apple has been aiming to be less reliant on China, pushing it to move some of its iPhone manufacturing deals to India. As a result, some of its partners and manufacturing companies have started new investments, resulting in the creation of additional manufacturing plants and sites in India.
Moreover, Apple’s top representatives reportedly met the Indian Finance Ministry officials to discuss the future of the business in the country. No specific details were shared, but it was revealed that one of the key points in the discussion pointed to “how India’s policies could be aligned to support this initiative” involving iPhone manufacturing.
