iPhone: Apple Occupies Second Largest Smartphone Vendor Spot In India

The Indian smartphone market has been dominated by Android powered handset in 2012. The popularity of these devices formed a fog over the others. Well, the Samsung' s galaxy series is the major culprit for that. However, little did the tech-world realize that Apple had sneaked in to become the second biggest player in the Indian smartphone market, revenue wise.

In Q4, Apple has turned out to be the number two player in India. And this means that they have done a significant shift in their positioning," said Venu Reddy, research director at IDC, the technology market research firm.

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According to a report by IDC Samsung is India's strongest smartphone brand, with 38.8% of market share in terms of revenue. Apple came in second with 15.6%, Sony with 9.4% and Nokia 7.3%.

CNN reports, Apple's success has been attributed to change in their distribution strategy. Apple decided to sell iPhones through online retail portals and small shops, instead of tying up with carriers to sell phones in the country. Prior to the Apple's change in strategy, i-Phone in India said cost nearly 30% more than in the U.S., and customers has to wait as long as a year for delivery.

According to IDC, sales of iPhones in India increased by 4 times, in the last quarter of 2012. However , Apple still has some catching up to do, before they can reach the likes of Samsung.