When Apple set 100,000 as its sales target for the iphone in India 
But now they realise that it will be very hard to reach this modest target.Livemint.com reports that only 11000 iphones have been sold so far out of the 50,000 of the initial shipment.
So what went wrong? Is it the price? not really...because Nokia's iphone killers are doing well although they are priced same or even more(30k+range) than the iphone in India.Its too early to quote numbers of the N96 but sales is brisk according to sellers.
Two main P's that Apple got wrong are Promotion & Place-that is they did not communicate properly to the Indian consumer why they have to pay three times more than the US price.Also only the service providers promoted and not Apple despite its retail presence. And Airtel and Vodafone thought since its The Iphone it will sell by itself and only a low level of promotion was done(only some printads ands billboards that iphone is available)
Then Place i.e. distribution, when retail is growing in India,Iphones are sold only through the service provider outlets and not through other mainstream retailers.Meanwhile the availability of Nokia phones is much much greater in the Indian Marketplace.
If sales of iphones is to be pushed it should be done immediately by collaborating with other organised retailers because the time is running out and before you know it consumers would have forgotten the iphone.
I think it is the moon effect. Once the child grows up he realizes that the moon is of no use and hence ignores it. iPhone has lost its charm(at least for me) and i doubt if people would buy it even when the prices drop.
ReplyDeleteI think price is the major issue here in the case of Indian scenario. People might have cut down on their purchases of new phones and upgrading their old ones because of the recession's effect. There is still a huge amount of youth population who are still crazed in changing their phones every three months or even less. If the price of iphone comes down, then I am sure 100000 is not a target that is so far away to be reached.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese iPhone coming into the market has further eroded the Brand Equity.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, the practical application of a conceptual construct is brilliant on your part.
Great work. :)
Deep,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your compliments..I am not sure if the Chinese replica has eroded brand equity but i am sure it has dented its sales..because the common Indian is not crazy about Apple..he just wants a fundoo phone so whichever is cheaper he goes for it...
Guru,
I agree with Tiger that Apple has lost its charm or at least in the process if losing it..because in another 6 months we don't know what kind of new phones will be hitting the market..So if the price are going to be dropped they better do it quick