Korean media: "The next China", India becomes the new battlefield in the smartphone industry!
On March 14, the Korean media "Asia Economic" published an article stating that data shows that one out of every five smartphones sold in the Indian market last year was a high-end model. As the world's most populous country, along with rapid economic growth, Apple's latest high-end smartphones such as the iPhone 16 have become very popular. Market forecasts suggest that after China, India is expected to become the new battlefield in the smartphone industry.
Data released by market research firm Counterpoint Research shows that the share of high-end smartphones (priced over $600) in India's smartphone shipments reached 22% last year, setting a new historical record. Although this is lower than the global market's high-end share of 25%, the growth momentum in this emerging market is quite rapid. The shipment volume of high-end smartphones in the Indian market increased by 11% compared to the same period last year. With the advantage of high prices, the overall market sales revenue achieved a significant increase of about 8%.
In the Indian market last year, Apple's smartphones accounted for a record-high 28% of sales, while Samsung Electronics followed closely with a 22% share. The smartphone with the highest sales in the Indian market last year was Apple's iPhone 16, which fully demonstrates the popularity of Apple products and their leading growth trend in the overall high-end product line.
Apple opened its first official Apple store in Mumbai, India in 2023. Cook personally welcomed customers at the Mumbai Apple retail store and met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, continuously increasing investment in the local market. In addition, to make India the new production base following China, Apple currently operates five iPhone production factories within India. Bloomberg reported that during a recent meeting with all employees, Cook said, "Emerging markets such as India are our priority development direction, and the achievements we have made are encouraging." This indicates that Apple is fully laying out its strategy for the Indian market.
At the same time, second-place Samsung Electronics is also continuously expanding the sales scale of high-end smartphones in the Indian market. Its Galaxy S25 series and foldable screen models are gaining market favor. Compared to entry-level models that are popular in emerging markets, Samsung seems to prefer expanding its high-profit high-end product lines. This strategy will focus on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which is the core competitiveness of Samsung compared to Apple.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1859638409962504/
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