Apple has many lessons learned from its experiences in the world’s largest cellphone market, China. Now it’s applying that knowledge as it tries to tap into the opportunity that is India. The company is working with distributors to ease the up-front costs of getting an iPhone in the country.
Market research firm IDC said late last week that sales of Apple products have risen by 400% over the last three months in India, a region the company has largely ‘ignored’ for the past several years as it focused on other emerging markets, such China. Much of the recent progress has reportedly come through a boost in iPhone sales, helped by an “extensive advertising and marketing campaign” on the part of the Cupertino-based company.
We reported last week about Apple’s inroads into the mobile phone market in India. It seems part of that success has to do with Apple’s use of an open distribution model. They have signed up with distributors Redington and Ingram Micro, to allow them to offer customers more approachable installment payment plans for the devices.
“Apple understands that installments-based payment is an effective tool for bridging the gap between value and affordability,” said Himanshu Chakrawarti, CEO of TheMobileStore, a national retail chain with 1,000 outlets in 150 Indian cities. “We started the EMI scheme with Apple early this year and witnessed a three-fold increase in sales.”
“Apple is doing what it did in China three or four years ago. They studied the market, learned consumer needs and suddenly went aggressive,” said Jayanth Kolla, founder & partner at Convergence Catalyst, a telecom research firm. “From having about 30 people here six months ago, Apple India is now about 150-people strong.”
Over the long-term, India is expected to be crucial to Apple’s overall growth. Its mobile computing market is second only to China, with mobile phone demand estimated to reach a quarter billion units by next year.
