The Times of India on Friday ran an article profiling Apple’s recent success in India. The article said that while Apple had “ignored” India for years, its recent spat of attention was paying off, as Apple had begun an “extensive advertising and marketing campaign” for their iPhone.
Those efforts have resulted in sales increasing by as much as 400 percent, according to estimates from IDC. And there’s much more room to grow in India, where smartphone penetration rates are less than 10 percent.
“Apple, founded by the late Steve Jobs who came to India in search of spiritual salvation, has had only a marginal presence in the country,” Friday’s report said. “It has a negligible share of the local smartphone market, where Samsung is the clear leader.”
Apple’s recent push in India is similar to the push the company made into China a few years back. That push has turned out to be highly successful, as China has become a key part of Apple’s global growth.
The iPhone 5 launched in India on November 2nd, and during the same timeframe Apple started billing for content in the iOS App Store in the rupee, India’s currency. Previously, billing had been done in U.S. dollars.
The iTunes Music store launched in India and 55 other countries in early December. The launch of the iTunes Store in India saw the addition of Indian artists such as AR Rahman, in addition to U.S. artists.
