Apple Plans Revamped India Strategy With Official Stores, Year-Long iPhone Deals, and Improved Apps

[JPack]

I can see a lot of misinformation in this thread.

NOTE:

I’m an Indian and have lived in India all my life (apart from my visit to foreign lands for vacations).

The population in India who can afford iPhones is tiny. Period.

Everything else is just an excuse. Indians don’t know/care about Apple Maps/News/etc. There just isn’t the buying power in India yet.

Sell every single iPhone for exactly half of what it’s sold for right now in India, and the sales will be 5-10x of current sales the following year. No doubt.

Those Indians who have the means do buy iPhone X. But the population is tiny.

And Indians have a complex whereby they either want the X or no an iPhone at all.

That’s why sales in 2018 are less than half of 2017. Because many Indians could afford the 7 with its discounts. X, not so much.

If Apple has to grow in India, they’ll need to manufacture in India and sell phones for USD 1 = INR 70 and not USD 1 = INR 95. Indians just won’t be able to afford that in big numbers.

And that goes for luxury cars too. When Mercedes sells under 20k Cars a year in India compared to 100k’s in developed nations, despite having a far bigger population, that should be your hint.

I’m not saying it’s the fault of Indians. But the common man just doesn’t earn that much yet. And what Apple doesn’t realise is that India will never be the next China or Apple for luxury products. But it could become 1/4th of that in maybe 20+ yrs.

Let us take the Apple iUP for example.

Let’s say Apple launches that in India.

The iPhone X will be sold for INR 4000 per month, all inclusive. Approx USD 60 a month. For the base version. With AC+ included. At the end of 12 months you give back your old phone.

So that’s INR 48k a year out of pocket for the 64 GB version. How many Indians do you think will fall for it? I’d guess less than 100k a year.

Even the iPhone SE would be sold for at least INR 1000 per month.

And most Indians consider SE to be a variant of 5s and hence worse than iPhone 6. Yes, they are that ignorant. They no longer want to buy a 6 or 6s either since it’s old now. They either want 7 or X. Other phones are in no man’s land right now in India. People are downgrading from using an iPhone 7 to OnePlus 6. Yes, they’re that crazy.

One person I heard about was such a big show off, they wanted the X but couldn’t afford it. They sold their 7 to buy a USD 300 Vivo for the notch. Lol.

Finally, a true answer from someone who lived in India.

The data shows the buying power of Indian consumers is just far too low for luxury products like iPhone.

Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Apple iPhone, Cessna - these are all luxury products that are selling poorly in India.
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you are missing the point, for 1.4 billion population if average is $150/- then surely there is good chunk of market above average. even if only 2% can afford it still u r looking at 28million. Now lets only include salaried/earning population into that who can afford a top end phone (i have worked in india in the past so i reckon my numbers would be close enuf), its comes out to be about 4million.
A 4million markt is still 5% of total apple sales in 2017.
Remember this is purely salaried people not businneses.
Even only if quarter of them buy top end phone year on years its still 1 million.
And i can't stress enuf that this is only salaried class. medium to large scale businesses in India are huge
You have to move away from averages and %ages to get the market value.

Contrary to your point about Mercedes benz they luxe models are sold more and they have very little market for low end A series etc. Same with BMW Audi. if you like to talk about percentages Merc market rose by 500% in india in last 7-8 years. While here in UK it declined by 16%

Your math makes zero sense.

The average selling price of smartphones in India is $157. That means a BIG chunk of phones sold in the country are cheap smartphones. And it's less than half the global ASP of $345.

According to Counterpoint Research, only 4% of the smartphones sold in India are considered premium (>US$450).
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That tiny percent that buys high end mobiles is still more than the population of Canada. I too lived in India. You are too hung up on percents not realizing when dealing billions that’s still a lot of people. Samsung, Apple etc all check demographics etc when deploying their product lines. It also helps that quite a few people consider it as status symbol and some of those buy it even if it makes no financial sense. As kbk75 pointed out above comparing luxury car sales makes no sense.

That's not true at all.

Only 4% of the smartphones sold in India are premium (>US$450). Out of the 124 million smartphones sold in India last year, under 5 million are premium.

This is why Apple has sold fewer than 1 million iPhones this year.

 

[avtella]

They sold 3.2 Million iPhones last year in India according to Bloomberg ...this year will be lower even with the upgrade cycle in the 2nd half of the year. 3.2 Million was iPhones alone and even in the higher end Apple only has a fraction of the market share so that means that the overall market for $400+ (SE/6S/7) is much larger than you think.

As for comparing cars kbk75 already pointed out that it’s an Apples to Oranges comparison and with a proper explanation as to why.

If you are talking about 8+/X then yeah the potential base would be much much smaller.

 

[JPack]

They sold 3.2 Million iPhones last year in India according to Bloomberg ...this year will be lower even with the upgrade cycle in the 2nd half of the year. 3.2 Million was iPhones alone and even in the higher end Apple only has a fraction of the market share so that means that the overall market for $400+ (SE/6S/7) is much larger than you think.

As for comparing cars kbk75 already pointed out that it’s an Apples to Oranges comparison and with a proper explanation as to why.

If you are talking about 8+/X then yeah the potential base would be much much smaller.

Last year, the iPhone SE received price cuts in India where the price dropped to under $349. This was after Wistron opened an assembly plant in the country.

The top selling iPhones on Amazon India are iPhone 6 and SE. These are not $400 phones.

India is hardly unique with tariffs on imported European luxury cars. China has a 25% tariff, 17% VAT, and up to 40% consumer tax on imported cars. Yet, the country still purchased over 600k vehicles from Mercedes-Benz compared to the 15k in India.

 

[aakshey]

They sold 3.2 Million iPhones last year in India according to Bloomberg ...this year will be lower even with the upgrade cycle in the 2nd half of the year. 3.2 Million was iPhones alone and even in the higher end Apple only has a fraction of the market share so that means that the overall market for $400+ (SE/6S/7) is much larger than you think.

As for comparing cars kbk75 already pointed out that it’s an Apples to Oranges comparison and with a proper explanation as to why.

If you are talking about 8+/X then yeah the potential base would be much much smaller.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Bu...India-s-premium-smartphone-market-to-Samsung2

In this quarter Apple sold 200k iPhones. A total of less than 1 million smartphones sold in this period were for over USD 450.

Also, not all iPhones cost over USD 450. iPhone SE is around USD 250-300 in India based on when you but it. iPhone 6 is also around USD 350-400.

The total premium smartphone market (USD 450 and above) is 2-3 million smartphones. Guaranteed under 5 million. Apple already has 20% share of that.

And Americans who cant afford a X either don’t upgrade or settle for the 8 or 8+.

In India, most people who can’t afford a X don’t go for 7/8, they buy OnePlus or Samsung instead.

 

[avtella]

@aakshey good points, as for the SE I definitely agree, forgot it’s more in the 300-350 range rather than $400. I still feel the market is a bit underestimated. Doesn’t help manufacturers that upgrade cycles are getting longer in terms of sales. By the way I wasn’t talking about the X/8+ those reduce the audience to a fraction of the SE/6S/7.

However as for you saying less than 10% earn more than $25 a year I believe that’s wrong as ~13% earn around $3,600 a year or more as per a survey done between April-December 2015. Here’s another article pretty interesting:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livemint.com/Money/HJkSWsigdz6Xvkg8wpr6jK/Where-are-you-in-Indias-wealth-distribution.html?facet=amp&utm_source=googleamp&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=googleamp

Even in the US most people buy them either on carrier subsidies which are disappearing or 24x month 0 interest payments via carriers.

As for cars, if I recall correctly, you are looking at a 60-100%+ in just import costs alone for models over $40,000 till GST was enacted mid last year. Not sure of the effects afterwards.

 

[kbk75]

India is hardly unique with tariffs on imported European luxury cars. China has a 25% tariff, 17% VAT, and up to 40% consumer tax on imported cars. Yet, the country still purchased over 600k vehicles from Mercedes-Benz compared to the 15k in India.

Like I said before, you’re just airing your ignorance of the Indian marketplace with your repeated attempts to compare India to China. India levies over 223% duty on imported cars. Then there’s a 28% GST on the dealer price, 3% for insurance and then 22% to register the vehicle with the RTO. So what was that about China, again? Just let the comparisons go and save face.

 

[JPack]

Like I said before, you’re just airing your ignorance of the Indian marketplace with your repeated attempts to compare India to China. India levies over 223% duty on imported cars. Then there’s a 28% GST on the dealer price, 3% for insurance and then 22% to register the vehicle with the RTO. So what was that about China, again? Just let the comparisons go and save face.

Like I said, you're pretending these tariffs don't exist in China.

• 2.44x for Mercedes S350: $93,000 (569,372 yuan) in Seattle and 1.39 million yuan in Beijing;
• 2.58x for Audi A8 2013: $86,095 (527,091 yuan) in Seattle and 1.36 million yuan in Beijing;
• 2.91x for BMW X6: $59,461 (364,033 yuan) in Seattle and 1.06 million yuan in Beijing.
• Peopledaily.com.cn also found that the 1.6 million yuan Mercedes GL450 4 Matic is nearly five times more expensive than in the US, where it sells for $58,200 (356,220 yuan).

http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/BeijingInformation/BeijingNewsUpdate/t1322442.htm

This does not include license plate lotteries, road taxes, or other costs.

India is not unique in protection mechanisms against imported autos. What is unique is the low consumption of luxury goods relative to its population.

 

[kbk75]

Like I said, you're pretending these tariffs don't exist in China.

• 2.44x for Mercedes S350: $93,000 (569,372 yuan) in Seattle and 1.39 million yuan in Beijing;
• 2.58x for Audi A8 2013: $86,095 (527,091 yuan) in Seattle and 1.36 million yuan in Beijing;
• 2.91x for BMW X6: $59,461 (364,033 yuan) in Seattle and 1.06 million yuan in Beijing.
• Peopledaily.com.cn also found that the 1.6 million yuan Mercedes GL450 4 Matic is nearly five times more expensive than in the US, where it sells for $58,200 (356,220 yuan).

http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/BeijingInformation/BeijingNewsUpdate/t1322442.htm

This does not include license plate lotteries, road taxes, or other costs.

India is not unique in protection mechanisms against imported autos. What is unique is the low consumption of luxury goods relative to its population.

Actually, I’m not pretending anything. I couldn’t care less what anything costs in China. You’re the one making repeated references to China in an attempt to draw parallels with India. Besides, if you compare the tariffs you mentioned earlier in China vs the ones I mentioned for India you’ll see that things are, in fact, considerably more expensive in India when it comes to imported luxury goods like cars, in particular.

 

[FFR]

That tiny percent that buys high end mobiles is still more than the population of Canada. I too lived in India. You are too hung up on percents not realizing when dealing billions that’s still a lot of people. Samsung, Apple etc all check demographics etc when deploying their product lines. It also helps that quite a few people consider it as status symbol and some of those buy it even if it makes no financial sense. As kbk75 pointed out above comparing luxury car sales makes no sense.

You think Canada has a population of less than 4 million?

 

[avtella]

That was with the bad gestimate of 30+ million affordables for $400+ mobiles, seems you missed the conversation afterwards, including where I agreed the SE was priced even lower . I still think the affordable base is much larger than 4-5 million looking at statistica and some others. Also I in no way was talking about the X/8+, more about the older models though I was still clearly way off.

 

[singhs.apps]

Finally, a true answer from someone who lived in India.

That’s cherry picking to suit a biased POV much.

I live in india and I am sure many of the posters here do too. And I can tell you that math is bull dung.

In my circle, there are many who own iPhones and other apple products. And just as many who don’t. Personal choice and lack of a comprehensive apple experience that caters to local demands, Not affordability ( it doesn’t help that apple with it’s crippled iOS services and 40% premium over US rates is a huge factor)

Back in the 90s MTV came and tried to be hip. Channel V with local smarts ate its lunch.

 

[aakshey]

That’s cherry picking to suit a biased POV much.

I live in india and I am sure many of the posters here do too. And I can tell you that math is bull dung.

In my circle, there are many who own iPhones and other apple products. And just as many who don’t. Personal choice and lack of a comprehensive apple experience that caters to local demands, Not affordability ( it doesn’t help that apple with it’s crippled iOS services and 40% premium over US rates is a huge factor)

Back in the 90s MTV came and tried to be hip. Channel V with local smarts ate its lunch.

Sorry that's non sense. Just because 100k people in India can afford an iPhone X doesn't talk much.

As far as being 40% over US pricing, that's an excuse. iPhones cost a lot more than USA in most countries. That doesn't mean people start crying or don't buy them.

By the way, in my circle the iPhone X is pretty common. But I am talking of either Apple fanboys (who may not be rich) or really rich people.

 

[Anandc]

Sorry that's non sense. Just because 100k people in India can afford an iPhone X doesn't talk much.

As far as being 40% over US pricing, that's an excuse. iPhones cost a lot more than USA in most countries. That doesn't mean people start crying or don't buy them.

By the way, in my circle the iPhone X is pretty common. But I am talking of either Apple fanboys (who may not be rich) or really rich people.

The other countries where the price is higher has much higher earning ratio compared to India.

It's not that only rich class can buy iPhones. Lot of working class people buy things on EMI. I can bet you and none of your friends must have bought iPhone X on EMI. That's the difference between you and them. I know many rich class people buying iPhone X and even working class people buying iPhone X. But majority has bought OnePlus and other Chinese brands because they are flagship smartphones at half the price.

How do you justify so many people buying OnePlus 6T. It cost USD500!

 

[aakshey]

The other countries where the price is higher has much higher earning ratio compared to India.

It's not that only rich class can buy iPhones. Lot of working class people buy things on EMI. I can bet you and none of your friends must have bought iPhone X on EMI. That's the difference between you and them. I know many rich class people buying iPhone X and even working class people buying iPhone X. But majority has bought OnePlus and other Chinese brands because they are flagship smartphones at half the price.

How do you justify so many people buying OnePlus 6T. It cost USD500!

Lol. I have bought it on EMI. But ya, my other friends haven’t bought it on EMI. I hope not most at least.

That’s exactly my point. I’m not saying India is a bad country. I’m just saying few people buy such expensive products. Whatever be the reason.

Obviously die hard Apple fans like me are everywhere. And we don’t mind buying stuff on EMI if we love it. But that’s a small part of the population. Especially a population where high limit credit cards are a rarity, or in fact, credit cards themselves don’t yet have 100% penetration.
[doublepost=1533703921][/doublepost]And between you and me, I haven’t seen many 8 or 8+’s around. But I have seen a few X’s. People would rather stay on a 6 than buy an 8. India is probably one of the few countries in the world where this happens. It certainly doesn’t happen in the west. Because the only thing we Indians care about is show off. So it’s either the X or a One Plus to show that one is a rebel (and not necessarily financially cash strapped).
[doublepost=1533704000][/doublepost]For example, if tomorrow Apple releases the X 256 GB with AC+ at INR 4500 per month under the iUP like in USA, I’d probably buy it. Most likely. But on talking to my friends, I doubt many would opt for it.

 

[singhs.apps]

Sorry that's non sense. Just because 100k people in India can afford an iPhone X doesn't talk much.

As far as being 40% over US pricing, that's an excuse. iPhones cost a lot more than USA in most countries. That doesn't mean people start crying or don't buy them.

By the way, in my circle the iPhone X is pretty common. But I am talking of either Apple fanboys (who may not be rich) or really rich people.

Another cherry picked point of view.
A lot of people buy expensive gadgets. Barring the apple fanboys, most people like to see if the money invested is worth it. Once the excitement fades, most people would appreciate if the investment is worth it. In another words, it’s value, not price.

The iPhone X at its current price point with its lack of service features here in India is far more a deciding factor than just its ‘high’ price point. If it’s worth it, people will buy even if it’s a lower model. Once you get the phone what can an iPhone deliver that other phones cannot ( and many times better than the iPhone over here ) ?

Also, smartphones are getting into the commodity stage. iPhone might have entered here a bit late. If apple sees an upswing in iPhone sales, it won’t be just due to a lower price point. It’s the overall use of its services on offer which right now is abysmal.

 

[aakshey]

Another cherry picked point of view.
A lot of people buy expensive gadgets. Barring the apple fanboys, most people like to see if the money invested is worth it. Once the excitement fades, most people would appreciate if the investment is worth it. In another words, it’s value, not price.

The iPhone X at its current price point with its lack of service features here in India is far more a deciding factor than just its ‘high’ price point. If it’s worth it, people will buy even if it’s a lower model. what can an iPhone deliver that other phones cannot ( and many times than the iPhone better over here ) ?

Also, smartphones are getting into the commodity stage. iPhone might have entered here a bit late. If apple sees an upswing in iPhone sales, it won’t be just the price point. It’s the over use of the services it can offer which right now is abysmal.

Lol. Those services are only for U.S.A. and UK. No other country in the world gets them.

And I haven’t ever heard anybody saying they aren’t buying an iPhone due to lack of Apple News or how bad Apple Maps is.

Those are bonuses. Not their main selling point.

China doesn’t have any of these services. Neither does most of Europe, Canada, Asia, etc.

Keep living in your little world. Those who really want to / can afford to do buy USD 1500 iPhones regardless. Those who keep cribbing aren’t ready for that price point yet.

 

[singhs.apps]

Lol. Those services are only for U.S.A. and UK. No other country in the world gets them.

And I haven’t ever heard anybody saying they aren’t buying an iPhone due to lack of Apple News or how bad Apple Maps is.

Those are bonuses. Not their main selling point.

China doesn’t have any of these services. Neither does most of Europe, Canada, Asia, etc.

Keep living in your little world. Those who really want to / can afford to do buy USD 1500 iPhones regardless. Those who keep cribbing aren’t ready for that price point yet.

Spoken like a true fan boy. And oh in this little world ... I have an iPhone X and an iPad Pro ... not bought on EMIs.

iPad Pro is a solid investment. iPhone X sucks. Unless you are into selfie/emojis and shoehorned AR features. Rest is meh ! There are better alternatives.

And ah ! The lack of features as a buying influence ? Seems like you heard it here. There’s a first time for everything.

 

[Anandc]

Lol. Those services are only for U.S.A. and UK. No other country in the world gets them.

And I haven’t ever heard anybody saying they aren’t buying an iPhone due to lack of Apple News or how bad Apple Maps is.

Those are bonuses. Not their main selling point.

China doesn’t have any of these services. Neither does most of Europe, Canada, Asia, etc.

Keep living in your little world. Those who really want to / can afford to do buy USD 1500 iPhones regardless. Those who keep cribbing aren’t ready for that price point yet.

I agree with you. My only saying is "Price" is not the factor where Apple is failing.

Trust me, whoever bought OnePlus or Xiaomi or any other Chinese brand, are all saying why should I buy iPhone when all the features of iPhone are already there in other smartphones.

Look, flagship smartphones are called flagship because they have the cutting edge technology and it's the best product of any brand.

There has been talks of Apple's innovation everywhere around the world. Sure Apple came up with Force Touch, Face ID (3D) etc but these features don't really justify Apple's flagship phones. No other smartphone company has these features but they have Face ID (2D) and people don't really care about the Force Touch either. Even the Camera these days on Chinese brands have come on par against iPhone X. Where does the Apple stand out?

Apple wins because of it's smooth OS and it's clean apps with the best security compared to any OS in the world. But then people in India want features, they are ready to give up everything else. They don't want stainless steel material or wireless charging with glass back. They want faster smartphone which has higher RAM, more megapixel camera, power packed features like AMOLED Screen, 4K video recording etc and all these features are already there in all the Chinese brands which cost around USD500 - USD600.

Remember those days when Samsung's flagship phones and Apple's flagship phones use to be almost same price and people were still buying Samsung's flagship phones a lot. Just like there was a time when Americans were buying Blackberry a lot. iPhone trend took much later.

Apple needs to give all the features because the buyer is paying the full amount. You are asking the same price of USA to an Indian and you don't give Apple Maps which (Maps) is used the most in India, no Apple Pay when so many iPhone buyers are the ones who carry credit cards and Siri can't even be useful, I mean who the **** wants to ask Siri who is the president of USA. I want Siri to tell me what are the timings of the movies or can you book me a table to a particular restaurant. One may say that oh, it's only 3 features but they are useful ones. They change lives. Apple Pay is a zoom. No PIN required. Apple Maps are neat stuff and has indoor maps too. Siri can do a lot but it's dumb because it's not used to it's potential

But still, Apple wants the user to pay the full price. Why?
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Spoken like a true fan boy. And oh in this little world ... I have an iPhone X and an iPad Pro ... not bought on EMIs.

iPad Pro is a solid investment. iPhone X sucks. Unless you are into selfie/emojis and shoehorned AR features. Rest is meh ! There are better alternatives.

And ah ! The lack of features as a buying influence ? Seems like you heard it here. There’s a first time for everything.

I agree. I totally agree. There are better alternatives.

Problem for me is I am very convinced with iOS and MAC OSX. For me going back to Android & Windows is a complete no. I need a faster OS without any heating problems or lag. I know many might say Android has become better than ever before but unless that day comes when iOS and MAC OSX F***s up, I might switch to Android or Windows, till then I'll buy iPhone because of it's OS and not because of it's features!

 

[singhs.apps]

I agree. I totally agree. There are better alternatives.

Problem for me is I am very convinced with iOS and MAC OSX. For me going back to Android & Windows is a complete no. I need a faster OS without any heating problems or lag. I know many might say Android has become better than ever before but unless that day comes when iOS and MAC OSX F***s up, I might switch to Android or Windows, till then I'll buy iPhone because of it's OS and not because of it's features!

And that’s the thing isn’t it ? At the end it’s macos and iOS, not the hardware. It’s the experience.

Funny that when you consider that it’s main rivals are the likes of Microsoft and google, both building on sevices and software. Apple on the other hand is known for it hardware, but it’s OS ends up being such a pleasant thing.

Power use ? Android and Windows and Linux have it. But Apple has gotten the consumer space right. For the most part.

If Android wasn’t so bifurcated, it would be a diff story. But then that’s what contributed to its reach as it did for windows and PCs.

 

[Anandc]

And that’s the thing isn’t it ? At the end it’s macos and iOS, not the hardware. It’s the experience.

Funny that when you consider that it’s main rivals are the likes of Microsoft and google, both building on sevices and software. Apple on the other hand is known for it hardware, but it’s OS ends up being such a pleasant thing.

Power use ? Android and Windows and Linux have it. But Apple has gotten the consumer space right. For the most part.

If Android wasn’t so bifurcated, it would be a diff story. But then that’s what contributed to its reach as it did for windows and PCs.

Absolutely. If Apple's iPhones was running on Android OS, I would have simply bought OnePlus or Samsung or even Sony.

 

[aakshey]

Absolutely. If Apple's iPhones was running on Android OS, I would have simply bought OnePlus or Samsung or even Sony.

Everybody buys iPhones for iOS. If other phones ran iOS equally well, I might have just got a INR 15-35k smartphone running iOS with tech like iPhone X.

That’s obviously not the case.

Nobody buys iPhones for their processors or better looks. Batting show offs.

 

[tipoo]

Has anyone articulated why Apple "needs" to be in the Indian market, if the people there are too poor to be able to afford Apple products? Lack of price discipline and tendency of consumers to haggle show that this is still a primitive market.

It has been for many recent periods of time the fastest growing economy in the world, and that's a bigger feat when it's already a pretty sizable economy (instead of rising a tiny one faster).

So the middle class that can afford these may not be most of the country, but people are also rapidly being lifted to the middle class, and it would be wise to have some strategy in the country. Maybe not particularly for this years revenue sheet, but in 5, 10 years, do you want another few hundred million people to be more used to the Xiaomis and Huaweis of the world?

That's why getting in early is important, tie-in and familiarity.

For more perspective, India is responsible for 15% of the worlds yearly economic growth right now. It can be a lumbering elephant, but it's one that has gotten up and started to run.

 

[developer13245]

I remember paying $129 USD for a Operating System Architecture book in the USA while getting my MSCS circa 1990.
It was a high quality hardcover print version. About five years later I saw the same book in a coworkers bookshelf, which was a flimsy paperback version with pages printed on near see through paper. Based on the exchange rate at the time, the cost was about $35 USD. The infuriating part was the cover contained an export warning label that stated it was only allowed for sale in India, and not for export to any other country.

Looking back, this was the beginning of the end for the USA.

 

[M5RahuL]

Spoken like a true fan boy. And oh in this little world ... I have an iPhone X and an iPad Pro ... not bought on EMIs.

iPad Pro is a solid investment. iPhone X sucks. Unless you are into selfie/emojis and shoehorned AR features. Rest is meh ! There are better alternatives.

And ah ! The lack of features as a buying influence ? Seems like you heard it here. There’s a first time for everything.

Ouch, that lol .. but .. well said!!

 

[JPack]

Not affordability ( it doesn’t help that apple with it’s crippled iOS services and 40% premium over US rates is a huge factor)

Why do you keep making up this 40% number?

Prices taken from Amazon India vs. USA:

• iPhone 6s - $480 vs. $449
  
• iPhone 7 - $686 vs. $549
  
• iPhone 8 - $890 vs. $699
  
• iPhone X - $1,285 vs. $999

Indians pay the same for iPhone as many other countries in the world such as the UK.

Some poster above was pretending India pays some astronomical prices for luxury cars when other countries pay the same, if not more. The situation is identical with iPhone.
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The other countries where the price is higher has much higher earning ratio compared to India.

It's not that only rich class can buy iPhones. Lot of working class people buy things on EMI. I can bet you and none of your friends must have bought iPhone X on EMI. That's the difference between you and them. I know many rich class people buying iPhone X and even working class people buying iPhone X. But majority has bought OnePlus and other Chinese brands because they are flagship smartphones at half the price.

How do you justify so many people buying OnePlus 6T. It cost USD500!

Consumers in other countries also can buy OnePlus. But they don't.

iPhone X costs $1,200 in India, Russia, UK, and China. Consumers in countries except India are buying iPhone X.

It's not as if only Indians understand the value of Android smartphones. Other consumers have the buying power to purchase iPhone X while the India market doesn't. Do you really think Siri or Apple Maps works as well in China as it does in the U.S.?
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Apple wins because of it's smooth OS and it's clean apps with the best security compared to any OS in the world. But then people in India want features, they are ready to give up everything else. They don't want stainless steel material or wireless charging with glass back. They want faster smartphone which has higher RAM, more megapixel camera, power packed features like AMOLED Screen, 4K video recording etc and all these features are already there in all the Chinese brands which cost around USD500 - USD600.

If all that were true, the smartphone ASP for India wouldn't be sitting at $157.

For India to have such a low ASP, it means the vast majority of consumers in India aren't buying the "power packed" smartphones with 4K or AMOLED.