No Cakewalk Expected for BlackBerry (BBRY) in India as Rival Apple (AAPL) Ramps Effort
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BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) isn't the only smartphone maker getting keen on India.
Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is taking the country as serious as ever, pulling out all the stops to gain market share in the key emerging market. Along with an upcoming ad blitz, Apple is also offering payments plans for its hottest devices to make them more affordable than ever.
One ad that Apple has an iPhone 5 initially being offered for an initial payment of 5,056 rupees ($93). The payment is about two-months worth of wages for the average entry-level software engineer. Total cost of the iPhone 5 is about $840, Reuters noted today.
Apple added two distributors in India during the second-half of 2012. Previously, Apple sold the iPhone through a few carriers and "premium resellers."
Most in India can't afford fancier handsets; recent data points to just 10 percent of consumers using a smartphone. Still, India is the world's number two cellphone market behind China and Apple holds just a five percent share of the smartphone market. Samsung controls about a 40 percent share of the market.
BlackBerry's Z10 handset, which launched Monday in India, is priced at about 43,490 rupees ($800), on par with the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Lumia 920, among others. It's not clear whether BlackBerry would also be offering financing for the device, though a rep in the country said BlackBerry would initially aim more for the corporate segment over consumer segment. Having boasted a 10 percent market share through 2011, that share fell to just 5 percent last year.
With incomes in India growing at a rapid clip and new financing available on certain smartphone models, looking to the battle of smartphone dominance to heat up in this sizzling economy over the next few years.
BlackBerry and Apple shares are mixed mid-session Monday.
Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is taking the country as serious as ever, pulling out all the stops to gain market share in the key emerging market. Along with an upcoming ad blitz, Apple is also offering payments plans for its hottest devices to make them more affordable than ever.
One ad that Apple has an iPhone 5 initially being offered for an initial payment of 5,056 rupees ($93). The payment is about two-months worth of wages for the average entry-level software engineer. Total cost of the iPhone 5 is about $840, Reuters noted today.
Apple added two distributors in India during the second-half of 2012. Previously, Apple sold the iPhone through a few carriers and "premium resellers."
Most in India can't afford fancier handsets; recent data points to just 10 percent of consumers using a smartphone. Still, India is the world's number two cellphone market behind China and Apple holds just a five percent share of the smartphone market. Samsung controls about a 40 percent share of the market.
BlackBerry's Z10 handset, which launched Monday in India, is priced at about 43,490 rupees ($800), on par with the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Lumia 920, among others. It's not clear whether BlackBerry would also be offering financing for the device, though a rep in the country said BlackBerry would initially aim more for the corporate segment over consumer segment. Having boasted a 10 percent market share through 2011, that share fell to just 5 percent last year.
With incomes in India growing at a rapid clip and new financing available on certain smartphone models, looking to the battle of smartphone dominance to heat up in this sizzling economy over the next few years.
BlackBerry and Apple shares are mixed mid-session Monday.
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