Why iPhone is losing the race and Apple needs to rethink its India strategy

With Apple shipping less than 1 million iPhones in the first half of 2018, which is fewer than 2 per cent of the estimated 60 million smartphones that were shipped in India during the same period, Apple seems to be struggling to compete with its rivals in the country, reports The Verge.

According to the report, Apple's rival Samsung shipped 17.4 million while Xiaomi shipped 19 million smartphones to India in the same time period.

The Verge reports that this slump in iPhone sales comes after a steady growth in the numbers for the company during 2016 and 2017 when it shipped 2.6 million and 3.2 million units. The report says that iPhones smartphone market share has dropped to 1 per cent, which is its lowest in recent history, as of April-June quarter.

Devices priced in the top slots (Apple's iPhone X 256GB is priced at over Rs 100,000) in a price sensitive market like India has been a reason for Apple's struggle in India, The Verge report says.

Apple's most popular devices in India are iPhone SE and iPhone 6 which were launched two and four years ago. With available discounts, both the iPhone SE and iPhone 6 fall in the bracket of Rs 20,000 - Rs 30,000 which makes them more accessible to the Indian audience and hence the popularity.

Asus Zenfone 4 Selfie: Perfect buy for click-ready selfie fanatics

Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus recently launched three models under its Zenfone 4 series – Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro, Zenfone 4 Selfie (dual camera version) and Zenfone 4 Selfie. The Zenfone 4 Selfie is the most affordable of the lot and is the only variant in Zenfone 4 Selfie series without dual selfie cameras.
Priced at Rs 10,999, the smartphone brings a host of camera-centric features in a form factor that looks premium. Business Standard reviewed the device and here are the observations:

Camera
The selfie-centric phone is serious in its efforts to appeal to the click-ready masses of our generation as it packs a host of features to provide its users the best photo/image experience in the give range. Among the most attractive ones is the portrait mode that allows users to click selfies with the bokeh effect, which means that camera blurs the background to increase focus on the person in frame.  Other selfie enhancement features include eight image filters or tints -- greyscale, warm, hipster, retro, faded, nostalgic, vibrant and blush – and a soft-light LED flash that is helpful in clicking selfies in low light conditions. The automatic light sensor installed in the front is also aimed at ensuring a great selfie-clicking experience to its users. Users can also take panorama snapshots, besides creating GIFs using the selfie camera.

The 13-megapixel rear camera is equally impressive. The use of advanced technology to ensure quick autofocus and stable and shake-free recording/clicks while using the HD mode or filter is indeed a huge bonus. Apart from this, there is another LED flash located next to the rear camera that comes handy during low light conditions.

SEE FULL FEATURES OF ASUS ZENFONE 4 SELFIE

Apple to start India manufacturing in coming months with iPhone SE: Report

Apple Inc will in the coming months start assembling its lower-priced iPhone SE models at a contract manufacturer's plant in the technology hub of Bengaluru, an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron Corp is setting up a plant in Bengaluru to focus solely on assembling iPhones, a separate source told Reuters earlier this month.

Apple's move comes as it seeks to boost its share in the world's fastest growing major mobile market, where handsets far cheaper than Apple's iPhones dominate. It also comes as smartphone sales growth is slowing in Asia's other massive market, China.


To lower prices, Apple has been seeking to set up local production and has been in talks with the Indian federal government regarding issues such as tax concessions.

The industry source told Reuters the initial manufacturing of the iPhone SE model was not contingent on those concessions.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Economic Times newspaper earlier on Friday reported Apple planned to initially assemble 300,000 to 400,000 iPhone SE handsets in India. The industry source told Reuters the numbers would be substantially lower to begin with.(Read More)