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posted by cmn32480 on Monday August 08 2016, @01:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the whats-a-few-million-phones-between-friends dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has described India as one of the company's fastest growing markets and has proposed to the government a program to offer refurbished phones in the country as a way to get around the high prices of its devices in a price-sensitive market.

Cook is also said to have discussed with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May the "possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in India," a move that would help the company avoid the high import duties on smartphones and other products that the authorities have imposed to encourage local manufacture.

However, data from Strategy Analytics suggests that until these plans are put into action the company may continue to see a middling performance in the country. Shipments of the Apple iOS on smartphones fell to 800,000 in the second quarter from 1.2 million in the same quarter last year, according to the research firm.

The market share of iOS on smartphones also dropped to 2.4 percent from 4.5 percent a year ago. In contrast, Android saw its share soar to over 97 percent from 90 percent in the same quarter last year. Android smartphone shipments grew to 29.8 million in the second quarter from 23.2 million in the same quarter last year, though these come from a large number of vendors including from Indian brands.

Android looks unbeatable right now because of its deep portfolio of hardware partners, extensive distribution channels, and a wide range of low-cost apps like Gmail, said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, in a statement.

Total smartphone shipments in India grew 19 percent annually to 30.7 million in the second quarter of this year from 25.8 million units in the second quarter of 2015.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by goody on Monday August 08 2016, @11:49AM

    by goody (2135) on Monday August 08 2016, @11:49AM (#385255)

    I think this is more evidence Tim Cook is going to crater Apple. India is exactly the wrong market for Apple products, a market where Android race-to-bottom devices will thrive. India is appealing to Cook because of the population, and when he plugs the numbers into a spreadsheet it shows crazy revenue.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @05:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @05:10PM (#385367)

    Since Android is much easier to hack and load custom apps this is not a race to the bottom. The only "bottom" part here is cheaper-ish hardware. But you get what you pay for and there will always be a decent option available. Sooo, freedom is now a race to the bottom, gotcha :P

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @05:29PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @05:29PM (#385377)

    When you base your whole companies strategy on gullible people spending too much money on inferior products, of course you will start to run into problems when the economy tanks like it has for the past 8 years.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @11:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @11:39PM (#385540)

    Not a race to the bottom. It's more like the point at which cost-sensitivity outweighs stupidity despite all the marketing Apple can muster.

    I, for one, welcome our $20 Indian smart-phone.