Apple Continues to Struggle in India as iPhone Sales Drop 35 Percent in 2016

[colbertnation]

Lazy's got nothing to do with it. India is just really poor. An iPhone is nearly half a year's worth of income for most of them, so of course they're not buying.

The amount of misunderstanding in this thread is just astounding.

Are there a lot of poor Indians below the poverty line? Absolutely yes. Is the average income of India almost equivalent to what an iPhone would cost? Yes. Can we even say that "most" Indians cannot afford an iPhone? Yes. Is there a good amount of income disparity between the top 10% and the bottom 90%? Absolutely yes. Now put these % figures in context with a population of a billion people.

But, even if we go with a very conservative 10% of the Indian population being able to afford "premium phones" like iPhones (which the figure is closer to 20%), then you're left with a staggering 120 million people (10%) who CAN afford iPhones. That is a sizable market my friend, doesn't matter what company you are. 120 million potential customers should have any company executive drooling. (For reference, the total population of Western Europe is apprx. 400 million, including children).

The problem here is absolutely with the iPhone. It just does not offer what most of these high end phone buyers in India want: dual SIMs, expandable storage, etc. Lowering the price of an iPhone will enlarge the customer base in India, yes. But you won't see an appreciable chunk of market share unless you can cater to Indian consumers with what they want.

 

[2298754]

The problem here is absolutely with the iPhone. It just does not offer what most of these high end phone buyers in India want: dual SIMs, expandable storage, etc. Lowering the price of an iPhone will enlarge the customer base in India, yes. But you won't see an appreciable chunk of market share unless you can cater to Indian consumers with what they want.

The problem with the upper middle-class/uber rich Indians (in India) is that they are quite image-driven. Very similar to the Chinese. They want the latest and greatest, no matter what.

The iPhone has looked the same for two years now. You can't show that off. Now if the iPhone 7 has a different design, I am willing to bet that iPhone sales will skyrocket there, no matter what the specs are. Higher-end smartphones are status-symbols in India (and China).

 

[MacCurry]

The problem with the upper middle-class/uber rich Indians (in India) is that they are quite image-driven. Very similar to the Chinese. They want the latest and greatest, no matter what.

The iPhone has looked the same for two years now. You can't show that off. Now if the iPhone 7 has a different design, I am willing to bet that iPhone sales will skyrocket there, no matter what the specs are. Higher-end smartphones are status-symbols in India (and China).

This is a correct assessment. As subsidized phones are non-existent in India, no one will buy the iPhone at full price. The latest Samsung will be the choice of the image conscious.

 

[jkwr]

Apple could halve the price of the Iphone in India and still make a profit but then the rest of the world would kick off for feeling ripped off.

 

[rsdotscot]

If Apple add a feature that allows people to quickly and easily send spam messages offering awful 'design' and 'seo' services to millions of western businesses, the sales in India will go through the roof.

The sheer level of spam coming out of India makes the Nigerian 'princes' look like complete amateurs.

 

[iamtheonlyone4ever]

What a moronic statement considering the status of Microsoft phones in India (or the USA or anywhere)?

If it is about computing OS, in which cave have you been living? Just crawled out to bash Indians, when Microsoft can't get people to "upgrade" for free to the "next best OS" in Windows 8 and later, in the mighty USA or European markets! If XP had access to more memory, it would still rule.

What a racist troll!

my dear friend you misunderstood everything. i don't have a problem with indian people i like them and respect them i also know about their culture , do you know what the The Mahabharata is , i also had a pretty indian girlfriend when i was in 7th grade , if you look at me you can say that i look like an indian , i'm puerto rican but i'm not going to explain the puerto rican culture to you , find out for yourself , indian , black slaves , and white spaniards. there you have it a little clue , accusing me of racist when i have all 3 races in my blood , that's very nice. my mother is white , my father is black and i have coffee color , when you mix black coffee and white milk. i was trying to say that "maybe" the indian people support Microsoft CEO because he is indian. there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, unless you are taking things the wrong way or twisting things around. your comment is hilarious. i'm not going to get mad at that. i been living in a cage. true i'm a caveman. bash indian, wrong, negative, troll. maybe i don't know. moronic statement, got any more insults for me. is all right i forgive you.
[doublepost=1470815323][/doublepost]

But Google's CEO is also an Indian. So Apple board needs to fire Timmy and hire an Indian CEO.

No betrayal. Only brotherhood! LMAO

at least you are cool. not like that other guy , i didn't know about Google CEO being from india thank for that info. now i know that. thanks. the reason why i didn't know is because i don't follow google. maybe apple next CEO will be from india too. just like you said. haha lol
[doublepost=1470815948][/doublepost]this is my last comment, i hope people can understand me this time, when sales go down it doesn't necessary means that people are broke or people don't like the product, maybe they already have the product. so what is the point on buying something that you already have. many people have iPhones that's why apple got a little stuck on selling iPhones lately. if i have a tv in my house i'm not going to buy 5 tv when i live alone, i wait until a new good tv comes out, a tv that is better than the one i have. but if i'm happy with the one i have then i don't have to buy another tv, is not that i don't have money. is just that i don't need that other tv for now, so i wait until i really need to update, another thing is that sometimes people wait for offers or until prices drop, so it's a lot of things to take under consideration.

 

[amartinez1660]

If iPhone are too expensive in India - why push them there?

This.
Imagine Ferrari, Audi, Louis Vuitton complaining that the Indian market is not buying their products.

I do hope that they find a way to make something accessible to them though, specially if it's going to be a tool for their advancement as a society (both in making jobs for the factories and more efficiency thanks to technology).

I wouldn't mind paying $20 extras for my iphone if it means they get a better subsidy on the other side.
[doublepost=1471108889][/doublepost]

I agree with your statement. The year on year drop, however, has to be troubling. The price conscious nature of that market is a constant that the sales trendline has dipped below. It's too big a market to ignore yet, at the moment, the only solution appears to be a pricing adjustment.
As more of the planet moves away from carrier subsidized devices, it will be interesting to see how it affects iPhone sales and whether there will be an inevitable acceptance that margins may need to be revisited. The shareholders will be watching this closely.

Troubling for India, could mean that their country is tanking. Very troubling if you ask me.