India May Be Apple's New Big Market

Consumer Electronics

Published: July 15, 2024 6:50 am

24/7 Insights

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has faced problems with iPhone sales since the introduction of the iPhone 15.
India may be the next successful frontier for the consumer electronics giant.

As iPhone sales have faltered worldwide and in the huge Chinese market, India may be the next successful frontier for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Because China is the world’s largest smartphone country, investors have been concerned about the company’s performance there.

India is tied with China as the largest country in the world based on population. Some estimates even put India ahead at just over 1.4 billion. Bloomberg reports that iPhone sales in India grew 33% in the year that ended in March to $8 billion. India’s smartphone users overwhelmingly have phones that run on Alphabet’s Android OS. Apple’s market share in India is only 3.5%. Bloomberg also points out that Apple recently started to manufacture iPhones there.

Apple has faced problems with iPhone sales since the introduction of the iPhone 15. One research company said Apple’s China sales dropped 24% in the first six weeks of this year. Other research shows that Apple sales in the country have recently steadied. One issue has been that the iPhone 15 may not be substantially different from the iPhone 14 in the view of consumers. The primary upgrades were the camera and processor.

In the most recently reported quarter, iPhone revenue fell to $46.0 billion from $51.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Greater China revenue decreased from $17.8 billion to $16.4 billion. Apple’s next quarterly report is in early August.

While India may be one catalyst for revenue improvement, the next chance for a surge in sales is the introduction of the iPhone 16. It will be the first iPhone with next-generation AI features. Even with an improvement in India, the AI strategy has to be successful for Apple to get back on a growth track.

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