NEW DELHI: India is proving to be quite a strong growth engine for Apple, the world's most valuable company that sells the iPhone smartphones, iPad devices and Mac line of computers.
Growth rate in India has surpassed that witnessed in China. Sales in India were up 93% in April-June against 87% growth in China, according to numbers released by the company, while announcing quarterly results on Tuesday.
However, it must be noted that China is many times bigger for Apple in terms of absolute volume and revenue, contributing almost 25% to the $49.6 billion revenue that the company clocked in April-June quarter. India, on the other hand, is still a billion-dollar market for Apple, and that too on an annual basis.
But, India is moving up fast, say distributors and sellers of Apple's devices. "The demand has remained strong after the introduction of iPhone6 last year. Apple devices are selling like hot cakes," said Manish Khatri, who runs a multi-brand retail store in Mumbai.
Khatri said Apple's run is so strong that even Samsung's new devices —S6 and S6 Edge — could not have a big impact on the demand for its products.
A top distributor for the company said Apple's strategy to make phones available under Rs 15,000 price bracket has also helped the brand. "iPhone 4S is witnessing great demand. The low entry price of the phone means that a highly aspirational product is being made available at price points which were never seen before," the distributor said, requesting anonymity.
Nilesh Bhansali, director at Apple re-seller 'Mobile Moovers' in Bangalore, said his sales have seen a near four-fold increase in the last quarter. "The lower price point also introduces people to the Apple world and its operating system at an early stage. Once you buy an Apple, then you usually never quit the brand," Bhansali said.
Apple hopes to sell 7 million units in India by 2018 against the 1 million units it sold in the previous year.
ORIGINAL POST: TIMESOFINDIA
