iPhone 12, Mini touted to be bestsellers in India festive quarter

The new Apple 5G lineup of iPhone 12 series will start its India journey from October 30 (excluding iPhone 12 Mini and 12 Pro Max) and industry analysts on Wednesday projected the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and 5.4-inch 12 Mini to lead the pack in India this festive quarter.

The top versions -- iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max -- will be available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue, starting at Rs 119,900 and Rs 129,900, respectively.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in blue, green, black, white and red colours, starting at Rs 79,900 and Rs 69,900, respectively.

While two iPhone 12 models will be available for pre-order starting October 16, iPhone 12 Mini will be available for pre-order beginning November 6 and in stores beginning November 13 while iPhone 12 Pro Max is expected to be available in India around November 13, just before Diwali celebrations.

According to Navkendar Singh, Research Director, IDC India and South Asia, this festive season and next few months in India, "iPhone 11 would still do best, followed by iPhone SE 2020, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Mini, in that order".

"The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 is a good size for most Apple fans. It is very handy yet big enough to perform all tasks," Singh told IANS.

"Keeping the price of iPhone 12 Mini just $100 below iPhone 12 is a clever move by Apple. This means 12 Mini will appeal to those who really want a smaller phone and hence, will not cannibalise iPhone 12 which will still be the best seller," he added.

"Importantly, pricing iPhone 12 Mini any lower than this would have hampered iPhone SE 2020," Singh informed.

Pushing the limits of machine learning (ML), A14 Bionic in iPhone 12 models features a 16-core Neural Engine -- for an 80 per cent increase in performance — that is capable of completing 11 trillion operations per second, enabling improved performance on even the most intense ML models.

iPhone 12 models also feature Smart Data mode, which extends battery life by intelligently assessing 5G needs and balancing data usage, speed, and power in real time.

Apple's iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max feature a new lidar sensor on the back -- a technology first introduced on the iPad Pro in March.

The iPhone 12 models feature expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and a new Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone.

iPhone 12 models also introduce MagSafe, offering high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, iPhone 12 mini is likely to be a very successful model in India.

"We won't be surprised if it ends up being the most popular iPhone in India ever in terms of its lifetime sales. With the same design language and most of the features, it will be not just attracting the existing iPhone users but also users in the ultra-premium in the Android camp," Pathak told IANS.

He said that with the launch of new iPhones, there is a surge in sales in older generation iPhones as well.

"So expect iPhone 11 to still go strong for the coming year and a half," he added.

"This might be the strongest lineup for Apple ever. The iPhone 12 family sell-in is expected to be larger than the iPhone 11 opening year sell-in despite launching a month later this time," Pathak added.