Apple eyes Rs 1000 crore from iPhone 5S sales in India in Q3 - Times of India

KOLKATA | NEW DELHI: Encouraged by the popularity of the iPhone 5s in India, Apple has targeted Rs 1,000 crore from sales of the handset this quarter, which will make it one of the most successful smartphone launches in the country and in line with that of devices such as the Galaxy S series of phones made by market leader Samsung.

The goal is about twice the sales of the iPhone 5 in the year-ago quarter, which made Apple the second-largest smartphone vendor in India by value after Samsung.

Apple is also looking to tap the 6-lakh owners of the iPhone 4 to trade up to the new model, currently the costliest smartphone in India at Rs 53,500 for the 16GB unit, Rs 62,500 for the 32GB one and Rs 71,500 for the 64GB handset.

It has also launched its biggest advertising campaign ever in India, estimated at around Rs 25 crore, for the iPhone 5s and 5c in partnership with distributors Redington and Ingram Micro, along with telecom partners Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel.

Apple has less than two months to sell about 2 lakh new phones to meet its target and has sought fresh supplies of the 5s, reportedly sold out after its November 1 launch in relatively sparse numbers, according to three senior executives at Apple's trade partners in India. They didn't want to be identified. "Apple is aware its iPhone 5s has become an instant hit," said one of those cited above.

The iPhone 5c, with a plastic body, is priced at Rs 41,900 for the 16GB model and Rs 53,500 for the 32GB one. The Cupertino, Californiabased company is seeking to gain market share in India, the world's biggest market for mobile phones after China, which it neglected until about a year ago when it began trying to push its products with installment plans and other programmes.

It's also concerned that this has allowed companies such as Samsung to take advantage of the vacuum created by Nokia's weakening presence to gain a dominating lead in the marketplace, with an added edge provided by the launch of products such as the new Samsung Galaxy Gear smart watch.

Samsung's leadership also means the wider adoption of the An-droid ecosystem developed by Google to the detriment of Apple's own iTunes app store. "While Android has a lot of flexible apps, most of the apps on (Apple's) iOS platfrom are paid, which does not go very well with the Indian consumer," said Sankalp Damani, associate consultant, business advisory services, EY.

Still, Apple wants to make sure it doesn't miss this opportunity to rapidly scale up its market share in India. Top multi-brand electronic retail chains such as The MobileStore, eZone, PlanetM and UniverCell, along with the Apple premium resellers, said bookings for the 5s are more than twice what they sold during the launch phase.

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