Apple will officially announce the fiscal results of Q1 2021 tomorrow, but research firms Counterpoint and CyberMedia came out ahead and revealed some details about how the company performed in India during the last quarter. The research reveals that Apple succeeded in doubling its market share in the country thanks to the growth in iPhone sales there.
As reported by TechCrunch, the research shows that Apple’s market share in India increased from 2% to 4% in the quarter. The company shipped more than 3.2 million iPhone units in India in 2020, with the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and the new iPhone SE being the most popular models in the country.
This comes after Apple launched its online store in India in September last year, which brought a better shopping experience with financing options and AppleCare+ support for Indian consumers. It’s no secret that the company has also been investing in new facilities in India, which helps not only to reduce the prices of products there but also makes Apple less dependent on China.
Even so, Apple products are still considerably more expensive than its competitors in India. As the report points out, the starting price of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is $1,781 in the country, while the same model costs $1,099 in the US. AirPods Pro, which is priced at $249 in the US, costs $341 in India.
For more than a decade, Apple has struggled to sell its handsets in India because of the expensive price tags they carry. Most smartphones that ship in India are priced between $100 to $200. Samsung, and a group of Chinese smartphone vendors including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo flooded the market in the past decade with their affordable smartphones.
