Canalys on Apple in India: 'It's been a rout'

Bad news for Apple in a new market research report exclusive (so far) to the Wall Street Journal ($)

From ‘It’s Been a Rout’: Apple’s iPhones Fall Flat in World’s Largest Untapped Market…

Smartphone makers, facing sputtering growth in the rest of the world, have looked to India to make up the difference. With 1.3 billion consumers, the country is the world’s biggest untapped tech market. Just 24% of Indians own smartphones, and the number of users is growing faster than in any other country, according to research firm eMarketer.

How has that worked out for one of America’s most valuable companies?

The number of iPhones shipped in India has fallen 40% so far this year compared with 2017, and Apple’s market share there has dropped to about 1% from about 2%, research firm Canalys estimates. The Cupertino, Calif., company posted revenues of $1.8 billion in India this fiscal year. That is less than half of what executives had once hoped to capture, said a person familiar with its targets.

“It’s been a rout,” said Ishan Dutt, an analyst at Canalys.

My take: Eager to see this Canalys report, which also found Apple’s market share in China has fallen to 8%, down from its peak of 12.5% in 2015.