The report, which first surfaced on The Economics Times and quoted analysts at research firm Counterpoint, said that iPhone shipments in India dipped to 2,20,000 units in the January-March quarter. Analysts Also said that for the complete year, they are estimating shipments to rear 1.5 million to 1.6 million, but then, that would be a “10-17% drop from 2018,” and a 53% drop as compared to 2017. While the sales of the iPhone began to rise after the price cuts and discounts offered by the smartphone company, the OnePlus 7 Pro and Samsung S10e started to give the devices a serious competition after their launch. This led to a fall in sales again. The report has also said that Apple will begin manufacturing high-end iPhones like iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR in India soon. This will help the company avoid import duty and hence, the prices of the handsets will be reduced, and that would have a direct impact on the sales. It is worth mentioning that Apple already manufactures smartphones like the iPhone 7 in India. Currently, the problem that is leading to a fall in prices of iPhones in India is reported to be the high pricing of the devices. We should mention that iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR were launched at a starting price of Rs 99,900, Rs 109,900 and Rs 76,900 respectively. Earlier this year, Apple announced various discounts and offers on the iPhone XR. However, even after that, the cost of the smartphone was almost Rs 60,000 and hence, a lot of people could still not consider to buy it. It is worth pointing out that these iPhones are expensive everywhere across the globe, their cost in India is unusually high because of the import tariffs that are being levied on products that are not manufactured locally. As we mentioned earlier, the launches of OnePlus 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10e did not help Apple much either as the competition only became stiffer. Both the devices come with premium specifications and are priced under Rs 50,000, so naturally, they had an edge over Apple. Apple is set to launch it’s iPhone 11 in September this year. We would have to wait to see if that helps the company bounce back in the Indian market or whether it really is left with no other option apart from expanding its manufacturing in India. For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.
