Scalper1 News
“India is the next China for Apple ( AAPL ),” says a UBS analyst, who forecasts that the new iPhone SE will help Apple gain market share, albeit still at the high end, in India. Apple has priced the 4-inch iPhone SE starting at $399, about $100 less than expected. But that’s still a high price-tag for most consumers in India, says UBS analyst Steven Milunovich in a research report. “Some people in developed countries prefer the one-handed 4-inch format, while the lower price attracts emerging-market owners,” wrote Milunovich. “India is the next China for Apple — while the SE price point is high for India, at least it buys new technology now.” The iPhone SE is an update to the 2.5-year-old iPhone 5S. It features upgraded internal components such as an A9 processor and a 12-megapixel camera. Citigroup analyst Jim Suva also says the iPhone SE will boost Apple’s share in India. “Apple currently has 2% share in India for calendar year 2015, and we believe if the company were to increase its market share to be similar to that in China (around 13%) this would increase iPhone units by 15-20 million units,” Suva said in a report. Apple has been investing in India throughout 2015, with a development center in Hyderabad and licenses to launch its own stores in the country. “With the iPhone SE, Apple will not really disrupt the Indian smartphone market but rather try to dominate high-end sales — 77% of smartphone sales in India in 2016 will be below $200,” said Ronan de Renesse, an analyst at U.K.-based Ovum, in a report. China’s slowing economy is a worry for its local smartphone makers as well as Apple. Apple’s December-quarter sales in China rose only 14% from the year-earlier quarter, down from 99% growth the preceding quarter. Xiaomi was the top smartphone seller in China in Q4, with 15% market share, followed closely by Huawei, with Apple in third place. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News