Apple wants to sell more iPhones in countries like India and Vietnam – Politics

When the first iPhones came onto the market and with them the starched tablecloths of expensive restaurants from New York to Munich, they were immediately status symbols. So-called early adopters put them down in front of them to be asked about them. They just had to be useful so that you could explain why you were spending so much money on them when you already had a mobile phone. They joined the world of luxury brands and since then have revealed as much about their buyers as Rolex watches and Porsches.

iPhones are still a distinguishing feature today, especially in Asia, because they are many times more expensive than comparable competing products. Normal people buy the cheap devices from China, with the less eloquent names Oppo, Vivo, Realme or Xiaomi. So it is remarkable that Apple is now launching its first online store in Vietnam. Reuters news agency pointed out that the announcement “comes just a few weeks after the company opened its first Apple stores in India.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook personally traveled to Mumbai and Delhi in April for store openings, accompanied by music and folk dances. “Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warm welcome,” Cook tweeted after his meeting with the PM. “An absolute pleasure to meet you,” Modi tweeted back. Even opening a shop can be a political act in times of decoupling and de-risking.

India is the second largest smartphone market

Apple has long been manufacturing its products under questionable working conditions in Asia and selling them in the West at extremely high prices. But because Apple wants to diversify its supply chains away from China, five percent of all iPhones for the world market are now produced in India, and the trend is rising. And the fact that they are now increasingly being offered where they come from has global social reasons.

The market in rich countries is relatively saturated, and it is shrinking as the population decreases. In Vietnam, however, the population has multiplied from around 30 million in the 1960s to more than 100 million today. India is currently becoming the most populous country in the world and is already the second largest smartphone market with 1.4 billion people. So far, however, the iPhone has only had a market share of less than four percent there.

The trend is towards “premiumization”

Running around in Delhi or Hanoi with Airpods that look like you have the brush heads of an electric toothbrush stuck in your ears not only shows that he or she has to be reachable at all times – you are also presenting a status symbol. In this context, analysts are observing a growing trend towards “premiumization” in emerging markets. “There is visible demand for high-quality cars, mobile phones and other luxury goods, but demand for mass consumer goods is still subdued,” stated the market research institute “India Ratings and Research “. The rich are spending money again, the poor will have to struggle with the consequences of the pandemic for even longer. Good news for Apple, bad news for Oppo and Vivo.

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