Apple's amazing 400 percent India growth story shows success of EMI scheme

Apple’s EMI schemes for its iPhone series seem to have paid off and the sales figures are growing at 400 percent. A report in Economic Times, quotes Credit Suisse’s research analyst Sunil Tirumalai’s note to clients as saying, “From our channel checks we believe that iPhone sales are nearing 400,000 units per month in India - that is nearly 3% share of handset sales for a single top-end product in a market that has long been dominated by low-end feature phones.” If that is indeed the sales number, then it is clearly a big gain for Apple. It should be noted however that these numbers are by an analyst and Apple has never released sales or shipments numbers according to specific countries. The Swiss brokerage firm and research agency said its estimates were based on checks with mobile store retailers across the country and from distributors mandated to sell Apple products. [caption id=“attachment_830793” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  iPhone 5 and the IPhone 4S in this file photo. AFP[/caption] Apple’s EMI scheme for India began this year in February when it began offering users the latest iPhone 5 (16GB version) for 16,990 down payment plus the option of 6 EMIs at Rs 4,752 per month with zero processing fee or the option of 12 EMIs at the rate of Rs 2,376 per month plus a one time processing fee. Apple also extended the offer to the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 devices with a down payment option of Rs 9,990. For students Apple has amped up the offer in May by assuring them Rs 7,777 off on the iPhone 4, and it has even extended its option of buyback to the popular online shopping portal infibeam. We had previously noted on Firstpost , that Apple had risen to the number two spot in terms of revenue for smartphone vendors in India in Q4 of 2012. Apple’s steady growth is of course not just due to the EMI scheme or cashback offers but also due to its changed distribution pattern. Apple ditched the mode of supplying the smartphone via network providers such as Airtel and Aircel and instead signed up with national level distribution partners such as Redington and Ingram Micro thus ensuring nation wide presence both in small shops and the big retail brands. Apple’s EMI scheme of course faces tough competition in a price-sensitive market like India where there is no dearth of cheap quad-core devices starting at as low price as Rs 9,000. Of course rival Samsung is also offering an EMI scheme on all its top-line Android products. For Apple, despite the EMI scheme India remains a tough market primarily due to the existence of too many price-points.