by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Economy, Markets, News, SMEs, Technology
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : At nearly $940 billion, Apple is certainly well on the way to becoming the world’s first trillion dollar company — and the feat could be achieved as early as the end of this year with upcoming iPhone launches.
The tech giant crossed the $900 billion market capitalisation mark in November last year following the launch of its “super premium” iPhone X and, according to CEO Tim Cook, in India,”we set a new first-half record” as Apple reported record results for the first quarter of 2018.
However, in India — the world’s third-largest smartphone market — the Cupertino-based iPhone maker has not crossed sales of 2-3 per cent despite arriving in the country almost a decade back.
Trying hard to make inroads, the company is currently going through an overhaul under Michel Coulomb, the new head of the India operations who took over from Sanjay Kaul in December last year.
The iPhone maker is also seeking tax relief and other incentives from the government to begin assembling more handsets in the country and its proposal to set up a manufacturing unit is reportedly being evaluated.
In 2017, Apple sold nearly 3.2 million iPhones in India. As the company requires to increase its market cap by nearly six per cent to become a trillion-dollar company, can India pitch in?
According to industry experts, India is the fastest-growing among the top 20 smartphone markets globally, with a large untapped user base potential in Tier 5 and 6 cities and beyond.
The rapid growth of the smartphone market can be attributed to several factors like low smartphone penetration, inexpensive mobile data and growing aspirational middle class.
“As a result, the Indian smartphone market continues to look fertile in the coming years, helping brands grow and enhance their portfolios.
“Certainly, for Apple too, it’s a big market to target and grow as the aspirational buyers continue to opt for this luxury brand,” Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, told IANS.
The current smartphone user base in India is at 400 million which is set to grow by leaps and bounds.
“Apple’s market share in India has grown in recent years. It is a premium range player and is performing well in that segment in the country,” says Anshul Gupta, Research Director at Gartner.
According to Gupta, like any other major player, the iPhone maker is bullish on the country and plans to expand its operations.
“Whether India will help it become the $1 trillion company is not known yet — but yes, the smartphone market in India is growing across price segments, providing ample opportunities for Apple,” Gupta told IANS.
Apart from Samsung, which recently unveiled the world’s largest mobile factory in India, another big worry for Apple are a couple of Chinese players who have wooed a big chunk of aspirational users who would otherwise have shifted to new iPhones.
“Chinese players like OnePlus and Oppo have stopped the flow of users to Apple by selling premium devices in the Rs 30,000-Rs 40,000 range with the latest features. The charm of owning older iPhones is also over as large displays with better aspect ratios are now being preferred,” Satish Meena, Senior Forecast Analyst at Forrester Research, told IANS.
Unless Apple manufactures the latest iPhones here and sells them cheap, things won’t change and may further deteriorate, he warned.
Compared to the US, India is a “mobile first” market and, hence, most of the digital services are designed around smartphones which makes them central to the users’ lives.
“However, compared to the US, the average selling price (ASP) in India is more skewed around $150, making it a tough market for Apple where even the older models such as iPhone 6S are being sold for $300 — thus reducing the overall total addressable market (TAM) opportunity for it to capitalise strongly,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, told IANS.
Today, “Apple has a two per cent share of smartphone sales in the Indian market and the remaining 98 per cent of the market has been warming up to, and becoming deeply entrenched in, the Android ecosystem,” Pathak added.
Apple is currently assembling just one model in India — the iPhone 6S (earlier it was iPhone SE which didn’t make much headway) — with its partner Wistron. Missing are the iPhone 7, 8 or X series which further distances Apple from the overall opportunity.
“Apple can still remain bullish on India with only 30 per cent of the population using smartphone and a potential opportunity for all the players in the mobile ecosystem, including Apple,” Pathak noted.
According to Joshi, Apple has been successful in India, evident from the fact that iPhone users are some of the most loyal users among all smartphone brands, waiting eagerly to get their hands on the new model of iPhone.
Still, being merely bullish may not help Apple in the near future. The time is ripe to take some concrete steps, bring India on its global sales map, and cross the $1 trillion-dollar hurdle.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, Technology
San Francisco : Gaining ground, Apple improved its position in the US smartphone market during the second quarter of 2018, eating into Android’s share and equalising its standing with rival Samsung, a report said on Wednesday.
The iPhone-maker’s iOS platform accounted for 36 per cent of US activations as compared to 63 per cent for Android, said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).
When it comes to brand loyalty, Apple ended the quarter with a 36 per cent share of activations. Samsung too had 36 per cent of the market.
The US smartphone market further consolidated in the quarter ending June, with iOS improving its take from the previous year.
“Apple iOS improved its share of activations relative to last quarter and to one year ago,” Apple Insider reported, quoting Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP.
“This reverses the trend from a year ago, when Apple’s share fell relative to the March 2017 quarter. As we’ve seen before, consumers have become increasingly loyal to an operating system,” Lowitz added.
CIRP expects things to even out with the Cupertino-headquartered giant taking one-third of the market and tech titan Google taking two-thirds.
According to Lowitz, a further consolidation of smartphone sales is in the offing with Apple and Samsung leading the way.
According to the report, Apple had its best holiday quarter ever in February though iPhone sales were down 1.2 per cent (year over year) with 77.3 million units.
Smaller smartphone players such as LG and Motorola have lost ground over the past year, a trend which is expected to continue in the months ahead.
The findings were based on a survey of 500 people who activated new or used phones during April to June 2018, according to MacRumors.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Large Enterprise, Markets, Technology
San Francisco : Apple has roped in a new partner, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), to expand its enterprise-related operations, the media reported.
The Cupertino, California-headquartered company is known for keeping secrets within its own company and also with those that it works closely with.
The partnership between the iPhone maker and HPE came to light after the The Register spotted a LinkedIn job notice indicating Apple was looking for an “Enterprise Strategic Partner Manager” for HPE, Dimension Data, and the General Electric Company (GE).
The job title’s inclusion of HPE points to HPE joining the existing list of firms Apple works with for corporate services, AppleInsider reported on Wednesday.
The description for the role, based in London, advises the candidate will work with global partners, as well as regional sales, channel marketing, and system engineering teams both inside and outside Apple.
The tasks listed for the successful candidate include creating and executing sales plans, covering industries, and “other end-customer focus areas”.
The job also includes work in new business development, partner management and Apple’s enterprise sales programmes, according to the report.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, SMEs
San Francisco : Apple enthusiasts could get an all-screen iPhone for a fraction of the cost, with a new notch-equipped 2018 iPhone starting as low as $600, according to a famous analyst associated with Taiwanese business group KGI Securities.
Ming-Chi Kuo said in a recent research note that pricing for Apple’s upcoming iPhones could start at $600.
“Kuo believes that Apple may release three iPhones in fall 2018 — a relatively affordable 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, a new 5.8-inch OLED flagship (perhaps the iPhone X2) and a 6.5-inch OLED “iPhone Plus” model,” CNET reported on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the 6.5-inch successor to the super-premium iPhone X with an OLED screen could still cost higher.
The device is likely to cost between $900 and $1,000, Kuo forecast.
The analyst believed that the iPhone maker would announce and release all three 2018 iPhones in September.
Last year, Apple announced the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in September. However, the units did not hit shelves until October and November.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Markets, Online Marketing, SMEs, Technology
San Francisco : A group of iOS developers has called on Apple to commit to allowing free trials for all apps in the App Stores by July, while adding that it would eventually demand “reasonable revenue cut”.
Apple currently receives a 30 per cent cut of what revenue developers earn from the App Store, MacRumors reported on Friday.
The group, which calls themselves “The Developers Union”, detailed their demands in an open letter to the tech giant on Friday.
“We believe that people who create great software should be able to make a living doing it. So we created The Developers Union to advocate for sustainability in the App Store,” the letter read.
“Today, we are asking Apple to commit to allowing free trials for all apps in the App Stores by the tenth anniversary of the App Store this July. After that, we’ll start advocating for a more reasonable revenue cut and other community-driven, developer-friendly changes,” it said.
In its website, the Developers Union explained that free trials are a great place to start and gather the momentum needed to create significant change.
“Trials allow developers to show users their creation and establish value. Before iOS, Mac developers relied heavily on free trials, and they were able to make a living while making great software,” it added.
The group currently consists of 35 iOS developers, The Verge reported on Friday.
The App Store makes up a huge portion of Apple’s services business.
As such, without support from big names like Amazon and Spotify, it is not likely that the Developers Union will be able to make Apple concede on revenue elements of the App Store, the report added.
That division last year earned more revenue than AirPods, Apple TV, the Apple Watch, and iPad sales combined, it said.
—IANS
