iPhone fails to take off in India

Two months after the launch of the much awaited iPhone, billed as a revolution in mobile communication, Apple's foray into the Indian market seems to have proved to be a bit of damp squib.

The reasons being advanced by analysts for the dismal entry into one of the fastest growing markets are many and varied – from Apple not being bullish enough on the Indian market to adverse consumer pricing perceptions. Though there is not much agreement amongst analysts over the reasons, they seem in agreement over the possibility that  Apple has probably not only messed up a big time opportunity to cash in on a high growth market but also failed to prepare the ground for its future products.

Apple's plans for the Indian market were decidedly low key as can be gauged from the figures that the company was targeting in India vis-a-vis its global pitch. While Apple appears to be in the position to easily surpass its goal of shipping 10 million iPhones by end 2008,  the Indian marked seems to have hardly been targeted at all, going by the 50,000 units allocated. Worse still, the actual off take over the period has been only 11,000 units so far.  

Analysts fault Apple's decision to let Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, its partners, handle the marketing and sales efforts. Both partners were not quite up to it, they say, as they didn't have any experience in the retail business. Retailing in Indian context is a complex business involving tailoring strategies to cater to different income groups; something best done by retailers who sell half the mobile phones in the country.  Involving iPhone carriers in marketing and selling handsets was a sure-fire way to severely limit presence and availability in the market to the carrier outlets, they point out.
 
Both companies also seem to have largely failed to create the kind of product awareness that a product like the iPhone demands. While Apple ran a month-long ad blitz, Airtel and Vodafone largely limited their marketing efforts to back-of - monthly bill announcements. This laid back approach to marketing a high technology product that requires a more vibrant manner of advertising was what probably went wrong with the launch of iPhone in India opine experts.