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iPhone-maker Apple marked 2023 as the first year when it topped the smartphone market revenue chart in India, said a report by market researcher Counterpoint India on Wednesday. Two industry officials who consult multiple smartphone brands said that Apple\u2019s India revenue from iPhones fell just short of the $10 billion mark, but was enough to topple Korean electronics brand Samsung\u2019s long-duration stronghold on being the leader in terms of revenue from smartphone sales in India.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Apple\u2019s record smartphone revenue comes in a year of continued lack of enthusiasm among consumers towards smartphones. Counterpoint\u2019s report said that shipments of smartphones in India remained flat through 2023 at 152 million units. Apple, in comparison, shipped more than 10 million iPhones for the first time, growing at over 50% year-on-year (YoY).<\/p>\n
Mint\u00a0<\/i>had reported on 30 October that Apple had led India\u2019s smartphone market by revenue in the first half of 2023, and after strong festive period sales, was on track to top the smartphone market revenue by approaching the $10 billion mark in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cApple continues to see strong consumer demand, and is likely to maintain a strong double-digit shipment growth in CY24 as well. In comparison, the overall smartphone market could see a small 5% YoY growth through this calendar year\u2014although much of this will depend on how global macroeconomic conditions play out through the rest of this year,” said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint.<\/p>\n
This market share for Apple comes off the back of multiple consecutive quarterly revenue records from its iPhone sales in India. On 4 November, Mint\u00a0<\/i>reported that Apple, in its September quarter earnings, disclosed its sixth consecutive quarterly revenue record\u2014with its volume-wise market share crossing 6% for the very first time. Pathak said that Apple is likely to be the sixth most popular brand in India, with a 6.6% market share in terms of shipments at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Apple is projected to have pipped Samsung for the top spot in terms of revenue with almost one-third of Samsung\u2019s total shipment volume\u2014while Apple is said to have shipped just over 10 million iPhones last year, Samsung shipped over 27.3 million to capture 18% of the market. However, Apple\u2019s average selling price (ASP) is 3x that of market leader Samsung\u2014in comparison to a $950 ( \u20b9<\/span>78,000) per-device price for Apple, Samsung\u2019s ASP is around $350 ( \u20b9<\/span>29,000).<\/p>\n Samsung, on its part, is also pushing for more premium devices in the market. However, Pathak said that Samsung\u2019s bulk market share in the sub- \u20b9<\/span>20,000 budget price ranges has considerably declined, which has contributed to Apple overtaking it in terms of annual revenue.<\/p>\n The rise of demand for iPhones in India is likely to continue in the short-term, as multiple financing options, bank-linked discounts and strong resale programmes offered by organized refurbished smartphone sellers are boosting sales of premium smartphones in India. Industry experts expect this growth to sustain for three calendar years, before Apple\u2019s double-digit growth tapers off.\u00a0<\/p>\n Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president at market researcher IDC India, told Mint\u00a0<\/i>in October last year that due to its high ASP, Apple is likely to hit a glass ceiling\u2014beyond which it may struggle to continue selling incrementally higher iPhones every year in a value-conscious market.<\/p>\n The iPhone, however, has been more significant for India than just consumer-end sales. A 21 January report by industry body, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said exports of Apple\u2019s made-in-India iPhones crossed $7 billion in value at the end of December 2023\u2014contributing nearly 70% of all mobile phone exports, and around 35% of all electronics exports from India at the end of last year.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Centre further slashed import duty on mobile phone spare parts from 15% to 10%\u2014a move that experts said could further boost the local smartphone component ecosystem. Such moves may further generate increased value addition for India\u2019s assembly ecosystem, which would gain from more localized device assembling going forward.<\/p>\n \t<\/p>\n