A budget iPhone! Too good to be true? Well, the rumour mill has been predicting something similar for quite some time and going by recent reports on how iPhone market hasn’t really picked up in India as yet, it sure would not come as a surprise if we see Apple announcing the same sooner than later.
A Bloomberg report says:
Smartphone shipments in India are slated to rise by 70% by 2015. Considering this, if we go by the report suggesting that Apple ships fewer handsets to India, the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market, than it does to Norway, is alarming indeed.
Going by Bloomberg’s numbers, Apple sure has to do a lot of stuff and act fast in order to level with the likes of Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry in the Indian market.
But iPhones have been touted as the most promising technology developed recently. With its revolutionary iOS, high quality video calling web browsing features and easy synchronisation abilities, does it’s slow growth in the Indian market sure come as a surprise to you?
Also, if Apple lowers the price, then it will have to scrap some of the promising features. Is lowering the price the only option Apple has for surging ahead in the booming Indian mobile market?
Here we discuss some fronts in India on which Apple needs to do more work. Actually, the issues with the popularity and sales of iPhones in Asia in general are much the same:
- The price : The first and foremost and probably the most obvious reason for iPhones lower success rate in Asia and in India to be specific is it’s cost ceiling. As a developing nation, the majority of the population still can’t afford to pay $750 for the 16Gb iPhone.
- Competition: The smartphone user base in India still prefers a BlackBerry, Nokia and an Android over an iPhone. These companies provide similar features as an iPhone at nearly a fraction of its price.
- RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger : BBM has a dominance over the Indian app market with its excellent marketing and performance since its launch in 2008. The messenger works with majorly all operators in India and provides instant messaging on networks with speeds incomparable to those provided in the US. People who want to buy a smartphone prefer BB simply because their friends have one too and choosing the same would offer better connectivity through the messenger.
- Android OS : Being open-source offering easy app integration and installation features, inclusion of Flash and a better notification system than iPhone and of course being cheaper, Android smartphones provide a stiff competition to the Apple product.
- Poor Networks : India has recently started the third generation networks. The networks are yet to provide the services fast enough for an iPhone to function properly and to it’s full capability. Majority of iPhone apps and functionality relies on wi-fi which is yet to fully kick start in the Indian networks. 2G services are simply incapable of providing an experience that an iPhone promises to offer.
- Poor Marketing : People in the country know more about Samsung Galaxy Tab than they know about the iPad. The other companies seem to have spent a lot of money on advertising and marketing in India. Apple, on the other hand has not done any kind of marketing. I agree that people have started identifying Apple products, but I am not too sure if they realise what value it has when compared to a BlackBerry, Nokia or a Samsung product. For many of them it is something expensive with the same features as an Android phone.
Also, Apple does not sell its products through private retailers – thus deterring many buyers. One should notice that quite a number of rich Indians are in small towns where Apple products are not sold. And, since Indians cannot buy Apple products online as well – the only way to buy an iPhone is to go to a Reliance Digital store (which might not have what you need) or a Tata Croma store in a metro. A few private stores have started selling Apple products (again in metros), but they remain few in number. A better distribution channel will surely dish out brighter fortunes for the Cupertino-based giant.
Considering the above stated issues, if Apple does come up with something like a budget iPhone on 5th October (proposed date for the launch of iPhone 5) or in the near future, it will definitely be an event which will change the current Smartphone market on its head.
The thing to watch out for here would be how Apple would go about achieving this without compromising with the quality and performance that it boasts of. Reducing some specifications or features could be one way of approaching this. However nothing can be said as yet since no official announcement has been made by Apple, until then, speculations would continue.
If Apple comes comes out with something to cater to the Indian market it shouldn’t forget the youth. Microsoft, to lure the college students attention recently came out with an app development competition and another video-making contest. Apple could come out with similar campaigns as well. Plus, the Apple social media team needs to work the hard way in India. Facebook and Twitter are turning out to be marketers’ battlegrounds in India as in other nations, and Apple needs to concentrate here – the Indian public till now has not interacted much with Apple on social media.
.