iPhone maker Apple marked 2023 as the first year in which it topped the revenue charts of India's smartphone market, a report by market researcher Counterpoint India said on Wednesday. Two industry officials who consulted with multiple smartphone brands said Apple's iPhone revenue in India fell just short of the $10 billion mark but was enough to overtake Korean electronics brand Samsung's long-standing stronghold as the leader in revenue from smartphone sales in India to overthrow. .
Apple's record smartphone sales come in a year of continued lack of consumer enthusiasm for smartphones. According to Counterpoint's report, smartphone shipments in India remained flat at 152 million units until 2023. By comparison, Apple shipped more than 10 million iPhones for the first time, a growth of more than 50% year over year.
Mint had reported on October 30 that Apple had led the Indian smartphone market by revenue in the first half of 2023, and after strong holiday sales, was on track to surpass smartphone market revenue by approaching the $10 billion mark in 2023 .
“Apple continues to see strong consumer demand and is likely to maintain strong double-digit shipment growth in CY24. In comparison, the overall smartphone market could see a small 5% year-on-year growth this calendar year – although much of this will depend on how global macroeconomic conditions develop over the rest of this year,” said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint .
This market share for Apple comes on the back of multiple consecutive quarterly revenue records from iPhone sales in India. On November 4, Mint reported that Apple exceeded 6% for the first time in a row in its September quarter results. Pathak said Apple is likely to be the sixth most popular brand in India, with a 6.6% market share in terms of shipments by the end of 2023.
Interestingly, Apple is expected to put Samsung first in terms of revenue with almost a third of Samsung's total shipping volume. While Apple reportedly shipped just over 10 million iPhones last year, Samsung shipped over 27.3 million to conquer. 18% of the market. However, Apple's average selling price (ASP) is three times that of market leader Samsung, compared to a price of $950 ( ₹78,000) price per device for Apple, Samsung's ASP is about $350 ( ₹29,000).
For its part, Samsung is also pushing for more premium devices on the market. However, Pathak said that Samsung's bulk market share in the sub- ₹The budget price ranges of 20,000 have fallen significantly, which has helped Apple overtake the company in terms of annual revenue.
The rise in demand for iPhones in India is likely to continue in the near term as multiple financing options, bank-linked discounts and strong resale programs offered by organized sellers of refurbished smartphones drive sales of premium smartphones in India. Industry experts expect this growth to continue for three calendar years before Apple's double-digit growth declines.
Navkendar Singh, associate vice president at market researcher IDC India, said Mint in October last year that Apple is likely to hit a glass ceiling due to its high ASP; beyond that, it could struggle to keep selling higher and higher iPhones every year in a value-conscious market.
However, the iPhone has been more important to India than just selling to consumers. A January 21 report from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said exports of Apple's Indian-made iPhones exceeded $7 billion by the end of December 2023, accounting for nearly 70% of all mobile phone exports. 35% of all electronics exports from India at the end of last year.
On Tuesday, the Center further reduced import duties on mobile phone spare parts from 15% to 10% – a move that experts said could further boost the local smartphone component ecosystem. Such steps could further lead to greater value addition for the Indian assembly ecosystem, which could benefit from more localized device assembly in the future.
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Published: Jan 31, 2024 7:15 PM IST