Apple iPhone shipments show strong growth in India
Despite the pickup in sales growth, Apple still falls into the “Others” category based on the lower number of devices it shipped to the country for the quarter. Xiaomi remained the top smartphone manufacturer in India during the quarter thanks to its value for money strategy. For the period from July through September, the Chinese company shipped 13.1 million handsets to India, up 9% year-over-year. Xiaomi had 26.1% of the country’s smartphone market during the three months. Thanks to its popular mid-range handsets Samsung was second after delivering 10.2 million phones to Indians during Q3. This was an increase of 7% year-over-year and it gave Samsung 20.4% of the market.
The 8.8 million handsets that Vivo shipped to India during the quarter was enough to place the manufacturer third with a 17.6% share. The company enjoyed a 19% annualized growth rate during the three months. RealMe was just slightly behind Vivo with its third-quarter shipments of 8.7 million phones just slightly behind Vivo. The manufacturer delivered a strong 23% growth rate in India from July through September. And Oppo finished fifth after shipping 6.1 million phones to India during Q3. That worked out to a 12.1% market share for the third quarter of this year.
Apple has been promoting the idea of reducing the number of iPhone models that are assembled in China. While India would seem to have a head start on grabbing some of that business, there might be some questions about whether Apple would be able to access a nearby supply chain that would allow it to obtain components in the quantity and quality that it needs.
