Apple Has Encountered 'Little Success' Growing in India Due to High Prices of iPhones

[racerhomie]

There is a difference. There are cheap modern well specced Android phones. There is not such iPhone. The cheaper versions are all ancient phones.

No they are not. The 6S is still a fantastic phone.
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The top 2% of all Indian households bring in more than $710 per month. Tell me again how any of them are going to afford Apple's products?

There is wealth disparity like in China. Don’t worry.

 

[Ma2k5]

Why does apple even bother with India? Their government imposes ridiculous restrictions on foreign companies and their people are too poor to afford iPhones.

You should work for Apple, given your incredible insight.

 

[JPack]

This info you posted is not accurate. Just like in China ,there is tremendous wealth disparity that they can take advantage of. Hopefully India grows within a decade or so. But with the things the government is doing I believe Indian growth is bound to slow down.

In 2017, Mercedes-Benz sold:

• 15k vehicles in India
• 375k vehicles in U.S.
• 610k vehicles in China

There's wealth disparity everywhere in the world. In India, there simply aren't enough wealthy consumers. The vast majority of consumers can't afford a basic mobile phone, much less a premium smartphone.

 

[Morgenland]

I stopped buying iPhones because they're too expensive. I can afford one, but I won't justify the cost. There's a difference.
I think there's a new market coming up. And I think whoever makes the first of this kind of device will clean up.
Apple, or any of the top tier Android companies should make a high powered but small smartphone device that costs under £$500. A minimalist design with a simplified approach to app design, perhaps focussing on communications, and productivity, and internet browsing. Imagine a sleek, minimalistic design with email, social media, and internet, with media streaming, cloud services, voice/earbud control etc. a good camera and a decent battery life. Small screen, small bezels, none of this faceID notch business. I'd even forget about a front facing camera.. Something smaller/sleeker/slimmer than say an iPhone 5. iPhone Lite. iPhone Nano. Whatever.

Trim off the fat, sell it to me (and probably the rest of the world) for £400 - I'd buy it in no time.

That was pretty much the description of the Apple Watch Series 4 Cellular.
(The rest of your world buys it for 529 €)

 

[ztw2002]

First time ever that I am not going to buy a new phone next year. iOS is the only thing that holding me back from switching.

 

[bigboy29]

What people do not understand is that you pay Apple with cash, but you pay Google (Android) with personal information.

You pay either way.

That being said - Apple would definitely do well to launch a line of more affordable phones and not just for this market, but all markets.

 

[jadot]

That was pretty much the description of the Apple Watch Series 4 Cellular

Yeah. Bigger screen than that, but conceptually nearly there.

 

[Mousse]

Overpriced and sporting a single SIM slot. Gee, I wonder why it doesn't sell well in a country where dual-SIM is the norm.

 

[falainber]

No they are not. The 6S is still a fantastic phone.

With low res LCD screen and 2GB RAM? You have to be kidding (especially considering the price).

 

[vikrampb]

The top 2% of all Indian households bring in more than $710 per month. Tell me again how any of them are going to afford Apple's products?

Btw, the top 0.2% are bringing in a whopping US$17,000 per year. That's a pathetic 2.6 million people. The tail keeps tapering rapidly before you get down to the irrelevant handful who can genuinely afford Apple gear.

Source

You're right. Apologies for the name-calling. That was not needed. That being said, I will still ask you, when was the last time you visited India? Go to any urban area of the country, not the villages or rural areas, and you will be amazed at how many people own, and are able to afford an iPhone. Apple has always been about being in the "high-end" market. India has always been a very price-sensitive market, no matter how much someone earns. So, quite obviously, Apple is not going to get the kinds of sales numbers they are expecting to, unless they adapt to that market. Also, Samsung has managed to sell very well in every price range category you can think of. So, why is it that Samsung has been so successful but not Apple? It's because Apple refuses to adapt to the Indian market. There is a large number of people right here in the US who think the latest Apple phones are way over-priced, and refuse to buy them. How then does Apple think it will manage to succeed in a price-sensitive market like India?

 

[Baymowe335]

Apple should hire all of you for being so smart to conclude iPhones are expensive to average Indians.

I'm sure Apple has no idea how much Indians earn on average, so keep mentioning it.
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With low res LCD screen and 2GB RAM? You have to be kidding (especially considering the price).

You mean a 326ppi screen with indiscernible pixels and a OS that can manage RAM perfectly fine with 2GB?
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The top 2% of all Indian households bring in more than $710 per month. Tell me again how any of them are going to afford Apple's products?

Btw, the top 0.2% are bringing in a whopping US$17,000 per year. That's a pathetic 2.6 million people. The tail keeps tapering rapidly before you get down to the irrelevant handful who can genuinely afford Apple gear.

Source

There are a lot of rich Indians, just like Chinese. When there are over a billion people, even 1% is a lot.

India is still behind China's shift into a developed nation. There are still a lot of poor Chinese, but Apple does OK there.

 

[weup togo]

[doublepost=1545162385][/doublepost]
There are a lot of rich Indians, just like Chinese. When there are over a billion people, even 1% is a lot.

India is still behind China's shift into a developed nation. There are still a lot of poor Chinese, but Apple does OK there.

I even did the math for you. Sigh.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

I absolutely get thrilled whenever there is a MacRumors post about India and Apple. More often than not, self proclaimed experts come out in number with a few usual bashers.

I guess in the hour of declining smartphone market in first world countries, Apple should definitely heed the advice of few of the members here, and leave the country behind, because "it so poor" and not that in the future, whenever it may be, the chances of growth there should be overlooked. It's never the long game, just a short few bucks 'doh.

 

[Unami]

I'm with you there.

I gave in and spent and arm and a leg on a new iPhone 8 - still too big, and not significantly better than my old 5s (apart from wireless charging and water resistance - e.g. the camera produces exactly the same ghastly compression/denoising artifacts). I should have waited until spring 2019 in case there'll be a SE 2. I still hope there'll be one, so a SE 3 might be available when my 8 has lasted the 4-5 years to make the € 650 worthwhile.

 

[weup togo]

You're right. Apologies for the name-calling. That was not needed. That being said, I will still ask you, when was the last time you visited India? Go to any urban area of the country, not the villages or rural areas, and you will be amazed at how many people own, and are able to afford an iPhone. Apple has always been about being in the "high-end" market. India has always been a very price-sensitive market, no matter how much someone earns. So, quite obviously, Apple is not going to get the kinds of sales numbers they are expecting to, unless they adapt to that market. Also, Samsung has managed to sell very well in every price range category you can think of. So, why is it that Samsung has been so successful but not Apple? It's because Apple refuses to adapt to the Indian market. There is a large number of people right here in the US who think the latest Apple phones are way over-priced, and refuse to buy them. How then does Apple think it will manage to succeed in a price-sensitive market like India?

There is no argument that the truly wealthy in India have very expensive taste. Tata saved Jaguar from itself as a result. The point is one of simple numbers. When there are only 2.6 million people making $17k per year, there is simply no real market for Apple. My point stands: Tim was lying about the endless possibilities in India in this decade. Perhaps in the late 2030s or 2040s, there will be a thriving Indian middle class akin to China's. But that is not happening in the foreseeable future.

 

[jovada]

Trying to sell a phone which costs much more than the annual salary of a perspective customer is an exercise in futility. What is it that Apple doesn't understand about this?

And people WILL spend all of their salary on an iPhone. It's unethical selling iPhones in some countries.

 

[Bacillus]

I absolutely get thrilled whenever there is a MacRumors post about India and Apple. More often than not, self proclaimed experts come out in number with a few usual bashers.
I guess in the hour of declining smartphone market in first world countries, Apple should definitely heed the advice of few of the members here, and leave the country behind, because "it so poor" and not that in the future, whenever it may be, the chances of growth there should be overlooked. It's never the long game, just a short few bucks 'doh.

You don’t seem to realize that it was not the avge MR readers’ choice to go after a mass-market, premium-plus segment in the 1st world. Becoming dependent on a single product cat. in saturated markets - without having a disruptively innovative sequel device at hand.
That means that any strategy (or: game as you name it ) is a short-strategy and that meeting critical success factors in a 3rd world low income country is very, very unlikely.
Optimist CEO talk despite - he doesn’t show having another long-term strategy than milking.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Trying to sell a phone which costs much more than the annual salary of a perspective customer is an exercise in futility. What is it that Apple doesn't understand about this?

Apple's greed has really made the company rotten to it's core.

 

[justperry]

Interestingly enough, in Thailand you will see more people with iPhones because even the poorer people are willing to sacrifice more to get that status. It's not uncommon to see people with cars as expensive as their house instead of, you know, getting a house thats twice as nice because cars are a status symbol.

Seems like you know only half, no wait... correction, just a tiny bit of Thailand, but I don't blame you, few people understand Thai.

 

[bladerunner2000]

Seems like you know only half, no wait... correction, just a tiny bit of Thailand, but I don't blame you, few people understand Thai.

People living beyond their means isn't unheard of. You'll see it everywhere. Apple's more than happy to take advantage of these people.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

Why can't Apple give in and get the goddamn SE 2 out for India at $200?

They can make the ****ing iPad, which costs $299, with the A10 processor, a ****ing huge screen for iPhone standards, stereo speakers and the like, and it costs $300.

Put that A10 in an iPhone 6, paint it green and orange or whatever, sell it for $230.

It literally cannot be that the average middle-class Indian is not able to buy a $230 phone. What they won't want is to work VERY hard to earn these $230 working Bollywood or whatever and then be relegated to buying a 2015 device with a very old look.

Apple, make a "new" phone on the outside. That's it.

 

[justperry]

People living beyond their means isn't unheard of. You'll see it everywhere. Apple's more than happy to take advantage of these people.

That's true but not what I meant.

 

[falainber]

You mean a 326ppi screen with indiscernible pixels and a OS that can manage RAM perfectly fine with 2GB?

Memory management depends not just on OS but also on apps. If one app needs 3GB of memory iOS can't give it to the app if the phone only has 2GB.

Now, compare prepaid iPhone 6S to prepaid Samsung Galaxy S7. iPhone ($300) is 50% more expensive. S7 has AMOLED, 3.68x more pixels and 2x RAM, it also has IP68 dust/water proof (which iPhone does not have), LTE cat9 (vs cat6 for iPhone, that's 1.5x slower). It sounds like Indians might be smarter than Americans.

 

[HJM.NL]

iPhones market share is also vaporizing in Europe. I have no clue why that is...

Wake up Saint Cook, when all your crops are being harvested, it’s about time to plant new seeds.

 

[dwsolberg]

The real issue is that the smartphone market has matured. iPhones were once getting dramatically better every year, and whether Android people liked it or not, the iPhones were much better than Android phones for a long time. That’s no longer true. Except for privacy, there’s not much noticeable day to day difference anymore. And few people seem to realize how valuable privacy can be.