Amazon.com Inc is preparing to launch its long-rumoured smartphone in the second half of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people briefed on the company's plans.
2012 was an action-packed year for smartphones in India.
iPhone sales in June quarter dropped 35% even as smartphone market grew 19%
For the smart phone industry, it has been a lacklustre quarter of CY2024, with sales falling by 3-4 per cent over the same period last year, according to Counterpoint Research projections. However, with the launch of many new models in Q1 of CY24, overall shipments grew year-on-year by 10-12 per cent. In CY23 shipments remained flat, ending the year with 152 million units.
Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday said the Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued a notice to Apple Inc regarding alleged performance problems with iPhones following the iOS 18+ software update.
The launch price of Galaxy S23 series in India is in the range of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.55 lakh per piece. At present, Galaxy S Series smartphones are being manufactured at Samsung's Vietnam factory and the company imports them for sale in India.
As competition for the smartphones market hots up, new players are making waves.
The research firm expects global smartphone shipments to surpass a billion units this calendar year and 1.7 billion by 2017 aided by steady decline in average selling prices and emerging markets, including Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa contributing in volumes.
To collaborate with Flipkart and Amazon for online sales.
The manufacturing of iPhone 14 in India within weeks of the global launch demonstrates the maturity of Apple's manufacturing capabilities in the country, according to Moody's Investors Service. Increasing volumes of locally-manufactured iPhones will also accelerate Apple's expansion strategy in India, Raj Joshi, Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance Group, Moody's said. The Indian smartphone market's large size and strong growth prospects as the country unveils its 5G network "make it an attractive long-term market for Apple", according to a note by Moody's.
Seamless integration and intuitive flow of information between mobile OS & hardware is the only make-or-break feature.
From new and competitively-priced iPhones to slashing prices of its older models, it had a multi-pronged strategy.
Samsung's smartphone sales started to drop in the third quarter of 2016, and the decision to discontinue the Galaxy Note 7 slowed down sales of its smartphone portfolio in the fourth quarter.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal's recent comments on large e-commerce players have reignited the debate about their impact on smaller offline retailers. On Wednesday, Goyal said that the rapid growth of e-commerce in India is a "cause for concern" and is diminishing the market share of small, mom-and-pop stores by offering high-margin products such as consumer electronics and apparel at discounted rates.
Sculley, who has also served as the President of PepsiCo, said his own firm Obi Mobiles will leverage expertise in marketing and sales to ensure its place in the top six.
India doubled its exports of smartphones to $11.1 billion (about Rs 91,000 crore) in 2022-23 (FY23) over the previous year's figure of $5.48 billion (Rs 45,000 crore), thanks largely to the Apple juggernaut, according to data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said: "With the doubling of exports of smartphones to over Rs 90,000 crore, India is well on its way to becoming a leader in the global mobile device market." On the flip side, despite the government prodding Chinese companies to export more, their smartphone shipments fell steeply by 26 per cent from $214 million in FY22 to $157 million in FY23.
Get Ahead reader Ismail A Muhsin analyses why Nokia is losing out to other rivals in the smartphone market. However, he believes that the Finnish giant has the potential to outsmart competition.
India's policy for agriculture trade must move commodity-by-commodity to gain maximum benefits as US President Donald Trump's 26 per cent tariff on exports from the country take effect, said agriculture economist Ashok Gulati in a recent policy paper.
The device features a five-inch all-touch screen with BlackBerry 10.3.1 OS.
In the coming weeks, online retailers are expected to further raise the pitch with shopping festivals, discounts, and cashback offers.
By 2018, smartphones will account for 69 per cent of all handset shipments.
The company has identified India as one of the two key markets in South Asia.
Counterpoint Research estimates that Xiaomi will end CY23 with a volume market share in CY23 to 15 per cent, pushing the Chinese company, which has faced numerous challenges and scrutiny from investigative agencies, to the third place.
Chinese mobile brands are deeply entrenched in the Indian market. A move to bar them may send a bold diplomatic message. But its cost for the local industry is anybody's guess. In the event that Chinese brands face curbs, two handset makers - Samsung and Apple - squarely stand to gain.
Several multinational medical device makers are focusing on deepening their presence in India by expanding their local manufacturing footprint and research capabilities, a move that can catapult India into a strategic hub for the medical technology (medtech) industry. Among those increasing their reach in the country are Siemens Healthineers and Philips, signalling a broader shift from India being only a sales destination to becoming a global production and innovation base.
But this could be shortlived as the rise has been buoyed on Chhattisgarh assembly poll freebies
Shipment of 5G smartphones in the country continues to gain traction and such devices accounted for 22 per cent market share in the third quarter of 2021, according to CMR. As per CMR's India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for Q3 2021, more than 20 5G-capable smartphones were launched over the course of the quarter.
Streamlining its delivery network and shifting focus back to the mass segment - at a time when competitors were struggling to restore normalcy in operations due to the pandemi - aided the firm's revival.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the iPhone manufacturer is looking to invest more in the world's second-largest smartphone market. Cook, on his first trip to India in seven years, opened Apple's first retail store in the country in Mumbai on Tuesday and will launch another in Delhi on Thursday. Looking to replicate what China did to Apple's business in the last 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India's massive market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, and potentially make it a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices.
Essential and strategic items such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, copper, and energy products like oil, gas, coal and LNG are exempted from the 27 per cent import duty announced by the US on Wednesday, according to think tank GTRI.
Chinese handset maker OnePlus on Tuesday said it expects India to become its biggest market in the next few months.
While the 'Made in China' tag continues to be dominant as far as handsets in India go, things are beginning to change.
In its highest ever reduction in seller fees, ecommerce giant Amazon India has introduced zero referral charges on over 12 million products on its platform that are priced below Rs 300. The move is aimed at boosting seller growth on Amazon.in and supporting hundreds of thousands small businesses across the country.
Korean electronics major Samsung expects its new foldable devices Galaxy Fold 5 and Galaxy Flip 5 will enable it to capture half of the super premium smartphone segment in India, currently dominated by iPhone maker Apple.
India is the world's third-largest smartphone market.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on social media major Meta for unfair business ways with respect to WhatsApp privacy policy update done in 2021. Besides, the competition watchdog has directed Meta to cease and desist from anti-competitive practices.
Experts say launches would pick up pace from mid-March.
The government is busy strategising ways to revive the domestic mobile device industry as Chinese firms have grabbed a large chunk of the handset market. The idea is to minimise competition from Chinese mobile players in the entry level or sub-Rs 10,000 category, according to a senior government official familiar with the plans. While discussions on the strategy are on, there's a growing consensus within the government that the lower end of the market should be reserved only for the domestic players, the official said.
Lenovo, Xiaomi, Vivo, Gionee lead the onslaught, beating Indian and global brands with smart deals and astute image management measures.
