Apple India sales slip as Android devices control 97% market share
06 Aug 2016
Market research firm, Strategy Analytics reports that Apple sales are slipping in India. In Q2, 2016, Apple sold only 8 lakh iPhones and the sale of its iOS devices plummeted 35 per cent as against the same quarter last year.
On the other hand, the surge of Android devices in India continues bolstered by the fact that Windows Phone is no longer a challenge.
The operating system made by Google now completely dominates the Indian market with 97 per cent market share. It was much like a monopoly, although Google's Android was very different and allowed phone makers to modify the software so it was not technically accurate to describe it is a product completely owned by one company.
"Android shipped 29.8 million smartphones in India in Q2 2016, growing an impressive 28 per cent annually from 23.2 million units in Q2 2015. Android maintained first position across India with a record 97 per cent OS share for the quarter, up from 90 percent a year ago," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.
On the other hand Apple was faced with fresh challenges. "Apple iOS fell 35 per cent annually and shipped 0.8 million (8 lakh) smartphones in India in Q2 2016. Apple's smartphone market share has halved from 4 per cent to just 2 percent in India during the past year. Apple iOS will need to reduce iPhone pricing to cheaper levels, attract more operator subsidies and enlarge its retail presence through Apple stores or online channels if it wants to re-grow significantly in the future," said Woody Oh, director at Strategy Analytics.
According to the report, around 30.7 million smartphones were shipped in India since Q2 2015, of which Android accounted for 29.8 million of the total, while Apple came distant second with a market share of just 0.8 million. Total smartphone shipments in India, last year, amounted to 25.8 million of which Apple accounted for 1.2 million units.
Rajeev Nair, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, ''Total smartphone shipments in India grew a healthy 19 percent annually from 25.8 million units in Q2 2015 to 30.7 million in Q2 2016. India is currently the world's third largest smartphone market, after China and the US.''
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