Apple is still the biggest smartphone brand in the world, that is a fact. However, not everything is going well for the American company. After falling sales in China, Apple’s demands won’t be met in India, another potential big market for the company.
India won’t give in to Apple’s demands anymore!
For the fiscal quarter ended in September, Apple has been reported to have a 30% decline in sale in China, sequentially. However, it is not really surprising, especially for Apple, since the signs were pretty obvious. The company has since tried to sell its products in another market where smartphones are hot business. That country is India, and Apple has tried to infiltrate this potential market already.
The Indian government has also been very warm in welcome to the American brand. The government has given Apple and other tech companies some concessions last year. There is a regulation that requires foreign tech company to source 30% of products in a single local brand store, such as an Indian Apple Store. However, the Indian government will not grant that privilege to Apple any longer, since they said it would look like they are bending to Apple’s demands. Apple has been reported to have written to the Industry Ministry asking for lower import and excise duties, but that is not likely to happen.
Apple currently has 2% share in India. Although this is the fastest growing market for smart devices, the income of people are still very little ($3.10 a day). 70% smartphones sold in 2015 in India were below $150. With the price tag of a usual Apple product, it is no wonder that their best sold product here is iPhone 5s, which is priced at $300. To increase revenue and attract more users, Apple needs to open more stores in the country. That means it needs to have more concessions from the government, which seems unlikely for now.
Apple’s demands: Are they too much?
In light of this, Apple is facing a very tough time ahead, where two of its most potential markets is staggering hard (China and India). It is interesting to see where the company will go from here on out!