Apple is struggling in Indian Market-!

[vaithy]

yes, we know Apple is every where it already conquered the 'China's Wall' ,but in the neighbouring India, the second largest Mobile phones users in the world, its struggle against RIM and Nokia ..Read how Bloomberg unfold the story

Apple, which will introduce a new iPhone version tomorrow, ships fewer handsets to the world’s second-largest mobile-phone market than it does to Norway. Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) sell more devices in India, where smartphone shipments are forecast to grow almost 70 percent a year until 2015, helping mitigate their market-share losses in the U.S. and Europe.
Sales for the world’s biggest company by market value are hindered because Indian wireless carriers, which started third- generation networks this year, have yet to offer nationwide services fast enough to take advantage of iPhone features, said Gus Papageorgiou, an analyst at Scotia Capital Inc. in Toronto.
“Networks in India are just not conducive for Apple -- 3G networks aren’t quite where they are in Western Europe and North America,” he said. “RIM got the right product, the right timing, the right app.”
Apple shipped 62,043 iPhones to India in the quarter ending June 30, or fewer than to Norway, Belgium or Israel, according to estimates by Framingham, Massachusetts-based researcher IDC.
BlackBerry Messenger
Apple accounted for 2.6 percent of India’s smartphone shipments in the quarter ended June 30, trailing RIM’s 15 percent, Samsung Electronics Co.’s 21 percent and Nokia’s 46 percent, IDC estimates.
“The iPhone only really works when you have Wi-Fi,” said Kshma Shah, a 25-year-old interior designer in Mumbai. “3G has barely started in India, and on 2G you just can’t have the same experience.”
The world’s largest maker of tablet computers also shipped about 21,150 iPads to India in the same period, or 0.2 percent of its global total, according to IDC.
RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger instant-messaging service is popular because it was one of the first, and it functions well on networks a generation behind the speeds offered in the U.S. and Europe, Papageorgiou said.
“Only a few of my friends have iPhones,” said Mahafareenn Sarkari, a 25-year-old dance instructor in Mumbai. “BlackBerry is where everybody is, so it made sense for me to be on it, too.”
RIM’s ‘Wave’
RIM, which entered India in 2004, plans to extend its lead over Apple after expanding distribution to 80 cities from 15 starting last year, said Krishnadeep Baruah, director of marketing for Waterloo, Canada-based RIM in India.
“We want to ride this wave,” Baruah said. “This is really the time to expand into the emerging towns and cities.”
That contrasts with RIM’s struggles worldwide, with its stock falling 61 percent this year. At least five RIM executives have left since March, and the company sold half as many PlayBook tablets in the second quarter as analysts had forecast on average.
Nokia has more than 200,000 outlets in India and offers 13 smartphone models, Vilsha Kapoor of New Delhi-based Six Degrees PR, hired by Nokia to handle public relations, said in an e-mail.
The Espoo, Finland-based company is seeking to reverse its global performance. Shares are down 45 percent this year, and it is eliminating at least 7,500 jobs as Apple takes global market share and Asian competitors push the price of smartphones below $100.
68 Percent Growth
Smartphone shipments in India are poised to jump almost eightfold, or an average of 68 percent a year, to 81.5 million units by 2015, according to IDC.
Apple products aren’t as accessible in India because consumers can’t buy iPhones, iPads and iTunes songs from company stores or its website. Apple sells through licensed resellers, including a Reliance Industries Ltd. subsidiary and Tata Group’s Croma.
“Apple continues to invest in India as a growing market for the company,” Alan Hely, a London-based spokesman for Apple, said in an e-mailed response.
Steve Dowling, a Cupertino, California-based spokesman for Apple, declined to comment.
In China, Apple operates six stores, including its highest- grossing ones worldwide. Revenue in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong increased six times to $3.8 billion in the quarter ended June, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in July.
‘Pathetic’ Advertising
Apple may be relying more on word-of-mouth among India’s wealthy, said Harish Bijoor, who runs his own brand consulting firm in Bangalore.
“They don’t see a big enough market for their products to make it worthwhile,” Bijoor said. “They’ve barely done any advertising. It’s pathetic, really.”
Cost is also an issue in a country where the World Bank estimates that about 900 million people live on less than $2 a day.
The cheapest iPhone 4 costs $705 at Reliance’s iStore, while the cheapest iPad 2 sells for about $603. In Apple’s U.S. online store, the iPhone 4 starts at $199 with an AT&T Inc. contract and the iPad starts at $499.
BlackBerrys under $200 made up 40 percent of their shipments in India in the quarter ended June 30, said T.Z. Wong, an analyst for IDC.
“I don’t think Apple is a brand for the masses,” said Ajit Joshi, managing director of Croma, which also sells other brands besides Apple. “It’s a brand for the classes.”
The masses may be getting wealthier as India’s new five- year plan aims for 9 percent growth in gross domestic product. India last year joined the top dozen countries with the most millionaires, according to a report by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management in June.
Salaries in India also are set to rise the most in the Asia-Pacific region this year, according to an Aon Hewitt LLC survey released in March 8.
“It’s a brand-in-waiting,” said Viren Razdan, managing director of consulting firm Interbrand’s Mumbai office. “Apple is waiting for infrastructure and consumer maturity.”
Source: Bloomberg

[noob]

Price is the only deciding factor here...in less than same price i get top class Android phone..why should i buy iPhone in that case...

[ico]

Indians know what to buy.

[thetechfreak]

Come on not many Indians can afford Rs.40000 for a **average** phone. Yes it gives ultimate bragging rights but a Samsung Galaxy SII which costs around Rs.10000 less will make most geeks go

[Liverpool_fan]

There are not simply enough Apple stores. Distribution pales in comparison to RIM.

[Sarath]

People not happy with apple tax

Originally Posted by noob

Price is the only deciding factor here...in less than same price i get top class Android phone..why should i buy iPhone in that case...

That is the official figure. Among my classmates there are 5 jailbroken ones and one bought officially from airtel. You can see where the actual sales are happening.

There are more (and better) apps on iOS than on the Android market. So it isn't really just a price point issue.

[red dragon]

90% apps in both app store and android market are useless.
Android is slighly lacking in only one department...power management,otherwise it is as brilliant as io.s.
All useful apps are available in both the platforms.
Android is far more customizable than io.s.

[ico]

well...I don't really know what is this fuss about the number of apps. At the end of the day, you are going to use the same/similar 9-10 apps on every platform unless you are an app freak. (?)

I agree with red dragon. 90% of the apps on both the platforms are useless and the ones which are worth using are available on both.

[Sarath]

I agree with you guys when talked about the junk apps but I have, seemingly the hard way, have noticed the step-motherly treatment meted out to Android.

If you check my siggy, my current phone the xperia is an Android phone, I really do like it a lot. But it is a far cry from what I had anticipated it to be.

There are a lot of apps that are still lacking. I have to keep borrowed my brothers iphone for certain applications or maybe it might just be that the app store is better organised.

There are a lot of apps, even paid ones that I have on my phone. I have noticed that they are the older versions of the same app on the iOS with the latest ones being exclusive to iOS. I have come accross many such apps by now and it is frustrating.
Your phone is only as good as the SW it runs. I learnt it the hard way. I say this more with grief because I'm a college going student and we keep exchanging our phones. I have noticed that a lot of people vouch for the 3.5" iphone to play games, despite choices of an xperia arc, HTC HD and a few other models strange to me. I don't think most are even aware that the others are Android. Theirs is a fairly neutral judgement and its clear where it is tipping.

I think more markets like the Amazon (which is locked outside USoA) are needed to have exclusive apps to make that push for Android.

Having said that I love Android. I like fiddling with stuff, I love the widgets, I love how it lets me do everything that I want it to but I do not like it when people who have far inferior knowledge (no offence to them, I am just stating the obvious) than me can easily outshine me.

Infact my friend who is going to the US asked me if I needed the Parrot drone. Luckily I have an ipod and an iphone at home to save face infront of him. It might seem like an exaggeration but in their eyes I have the most number of gadgets anyone could possibly have, many a times viewed as a foolish indulgence.

[doomgiver]

indians are the most discerning users in the world, they will weigh in the phones features, specs, usablity, lifetime and price while buying.

that is why those who want stuff done get androids, those who just want to "showoff" get an iphone.

whatever an iphone can do, an android can do it better, freely, and will even wash your laundry while doing it.

[Liverpool_fan]

Originally Posted by doomgiver

indians are the most discerning users in the world, they will weigh in the phones features, specs, usablity, lifetime and price while buying.

Indian buyers are just like everybody else, just more conservative with their wallets.

that is why those who want stuff done get androids, those who just want to "showoff" get an iphone.

Why do they get Blackberries then?

whatever an iphone can do, an android can do it better, freely, and will even wash your laundry while doing it.

[MetalheadGautham]

Note that Nokia is still the leader in sales of smartphones in India, this after their platform has lost out in the rest of the world. To me it seems that these statistics are not as much indicative of the respective company's phones' performances as they are of the preferences of the Indian buyer. Outside India, both Nokia and Blackberry have completely lost out to their competitors. Here, Nokia is still the mental image for quality, while blackberry, even the most basic one, has its own executive "coolness" factor etched into the minds of the Indian middle class.

[Sarath]

Originally Posted by doomgiver

indians are the most discerning users in the world, they will weigh in the phones features, specs, usablity, lifetime and price while buying.

Its surprising how you say this while still look up comparison of popular smartphones based on "foreign" reviewers and authors. Everyone loves their money. We Indians love it a little more, thats all.

that is why those who want stuff done get androids, those who just want to "showoff" get an iphone.

whatever an iphone can do, an android can do it better, freely, and will even wash your laundry while doing it.

There is no "stuff" that is worth spending 30k on a phone to do. Ofcourse there are things that the Android does better. But the real war is between a rooted/custom ROMed Android vs Jailbroken iphone. Only then is the true potential of both unleashed.
I must say a jailbroken iphone is not a tough contender to beat.

Showoff is what I call the Vertu's. Upwards of 1L and still run S30 /S40 Symbian LOL

[xtremevicky]

I still fell that Indians dont want to pay a premium price upfront for a device. Apple is still right now more of a show off for people .

I believe that contract system which are not a joke can boast there sales only when you offer the device upfront for 5K and bond a 2 year contract . How practical that is in India is a whole together a different debate !

[Gollum]

tldr most if the text but the first para suggests an indirect blame on trai and isro for low bandwidth and foreign satellite restrictions.

[doomgiver]

isro? what the fack? arent they a research group or something? how do they figure in this?

[rsk11584]

even mac is not common in indian market, we are educational institute having around 60 microsoft windows / linux OS computers and are now going to buy our first MAC to teach courses related to iphone OS .... people in india surely think a lot before buying a PC for them a normal PC with pirated windows costing about 15 K is enough whereas a MAC costing about 1 lakh is waste of money for them .

[socrates]

ISRO stands for Indian Space Research Organisation Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation - Home Page
but I am not sure how it got mentioned here.