Apple doubles pre-orders for new iPhones in India, gears up for Diwali

Apple, which is all set to hand over ‘Make in India’ iPhone 15 as well as locally-assembled iPhone 15 Plus to Indian users on 22 September, has received a tremendous response to pre-orders for the iPhone 15 series in the country — nearly 50 per cent more from last year — industry and retail sources said on Wednesday, 20 September.

Apple doubling the pre-orders from last year’s iPhone 14 series indicates the company has made deeper inroads in the Indian smartphone market, driven by the premiumisation trend that is now maturing, an uptick in first-time users who are shifting from Android to the Apple ecosystem and a young, aspirational population.

Sources told IANS that Apple Online Store has seen stupendous traffic for pre-orders, offering attractive schemes, trade-ins and more.

According to industry experts, Apple is riding on the “premiumisation” trend, where smartphone users in the country are looking to buy their third or fourth smartphone. 

“iPhone being one of the most aspirational smartphones, coupled with big features upgrade for the iPhone 15 series, is attracting those increasingly ‘smartphone dependent’ users to upgrade to the best,“ Neil Shah, research vice-president at Counterpoint Research, told IANS. 

Further, easier access to financing and greater resale value is making premium iPhones more and more accessible to the mainstream users. 

“With iPhone 15 base version now being made in India from the onset, if Apple decides to make the pricing of the new iPhones more attractive in coming months, it could have a blockbuster Diwali season,” Shah added.

Both locally-manufactured iPhones will be available in India, at Apple Online and its own-branded retail stores on the global sales day on 22 September.

iPhone maker Foxconn is assembling both iPhone 15 and 15 Plus at its Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu.

Both the ‘Make in India’ iPhones will also be exported to other countries as well, which is also first for the country.

There are estimates that the iPhone 15 shipments in the launch quarter, which heralds the massive festive season in India, will hover around 65 per cent, driven by an increased ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The base iPhone 15 models will see a solid uptick in India as "there is a significant upgrade for those shifting from previous iPhone 11, 12 and even 13-gen models,” according to industry experts.

Apple set a June quarter record in India, driven by the robust sales of iPhones, according to its CEO Tim Cook.

"We still have a very, very modest and low share in this smartphone market, so I think it’s a huge opportunity for us. And we are putting in all of our energies to make that occur," the Apple CEO said last month.