KOLKATA: Its cool quotient may be fraying at home, but Apple's iPhone has become the second largest smartphone brand in terms of revenue and the fifth largest by volume in India, muscling its way up the league tables helped by an advertising blitzkrieg and some aggressive pricing.
Yet-to-be-released data from industry trackers and mobile phone retailers is expected to show that Apple has dislodged BlackBerry and wrested revenue market share from No. 1 Samsung in the last quarter of 2012, no mean feat, analysts say, for a company that has long viewed India as a non-priority market. In fact, just six months ago, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook was quoted as saying India did not have high potential in the "intermediate term".
IDC's Asia-Pacific Mobile Phone Tracker for October-December 2012 will show later this week that Apple achieved a value market share of 15.6% compared with 3.9% in the preceding quarter.
Samsung, Apple gap narrows
In value terms, it was still way behind Samsung's 38.8% share, but ahead of BlackBerry's 6%, while its volume grew more than three times, putting the iPhone at fifth spot behind Samsung, Micromax, Sony and Nokia. "Apple's sudden jump to become the second-largest player by revenue in smartphones is a surprise as has been the four-fold increase in shipment of iPhones to India in the last quarter," IDC India's Senior Market Analyst Manasi Yadav said. "We expect equally high numbers for the current quarter as well."
Indeed, analysts say the market share data for the January-March quarter will show a further narrowing of the gap between Samsung and Apple, making India the latest battleground for the high-pitch global battle between the two brands.
According to IDC data, Samsung, which is still the leader in the smartphones segment with a hefty lead, reported an almost 12% fall in value market share and shipments in the fourth quarter compared with the preceding one. Even BlackBerry and HTC lost ground during the period, which analysts attribute to Apple's aggression in the market place.
No comments:
Post a Comment