Apple, which has struggled in emerging markets because of the price of its new iPhones, has devised a strategy for India that's starting to pay off: It's pushing older models that offer cachet at affordable prices.
The iPhone 4, which was released in the US in June 2010, is still available in the local. So is the iPhone 4s that went on sale in October 2011.
"You flaunt an iPhone, but you don't flaunt an Android," said Punit Mathur, a 42-year-old vice president of a digital media company who switched to a new iPhone 4s from a Nexus 4. An iPhone 5s that would cost Rs 53,500 is too expensive, "but the 4s is still an upgrade," he said.
The strategy is critical to Apple's success in India — and it may become a model for other emerging countries.
"Once Apple has fully proven this model in India, you're going to see them roll it out to other markets," said Ken Hyers, an analyst with Strategy Analytics in North Carolina.
Apple's approach in India has helped it build traction in a country where 225 million smartphones will be sold this year, said Brad Rees, chief executive officer of London-based Mediacells, a marketing company. Apple, the fifth largest vendor in India, more than doubled sales here in the first quarter to 325,000 iPhones from a year earlier.
Competition in India is in tensifying. Xiaomi, the four year-old company that outsells Apple in China by offering inexpensive devices with high-end features, began offering its Mi3 mobiles in India at Rs 13,999 on Flipkart. In three limited online sales, 35,000 phones were bought within minutes.
Apple has historically used its brand to lure consumers instead of price. That has changed.
"Apple has started to understand India is a more price-sensitive market," said Katyayan Gupta, an analyst at Forrester Research in New Delhi. "Indians want to show their status. It doesn't matter if it's a two-year-old phone. It's an Apple at the end of the day."