Increased efforts in India just might be paying off for Apple, as a new report shows the iPhone grabbing second place in their smartphone market, behind rival Samsung.
CNN reported Wednesday on new figures out from technology market research firm IDC showing that Apple in the fourth quarter of 2012 grabbed 15.6 percent of smartphone revenue in India.
Apple rival Samsung remained the top brand in the market, with 38.8 percent market share. Sony (9.4 percent) and Nokia (7.3 percent) rounded out the top four.
IDC estimates in its Asia Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report smartphone shipments in India were up 38% from the previous quarter, at about five million for the quarter. Smartphones are estimated to have penetration rates less than 10% in India.
The increase in sales is a return on the additional efforts in Apple’s part to make it’s high-priced smartphones available to the Indian consumer. Apple has begun offering installment plans for the Indian market. In the past, a customer in India would pay nearly a third more than in the United States, and could wait up to a year for delivery. Apple has been selling the device on the open market, and not through carriers, who subsidize the cost of the device with high-margin service contracts.
To further address India and other developing markets, Apple is expected to release a lower-cost iPhone some time in the near future.
