Apple hit number two in India's smartphone market
IDC has released new numbers for India's smartphone market share and the results are very good for Apple. In Q4 2012 Apple controlled 15.2 percent of India's market, putting them in second place behind Samsung who has 38.8 percent of the market. The second place position is huge for Apple as just a quarter earlier Apple didn't even land in the top five.
As noted by TechCrunch, Apple's increased market share in the country is a result of how it sells its iPhone there. As there are not yet any Apple stores in India, the only retail outlets people can buy iPhones at are through third-party retailers in the country. Apple has started working with several of these small retailers to help them distribute the iPhone as well as helping them craft amortized payment plans that lets consumers defray the upfront cost of the device. Another significant factor to Apple's Q4 India numbers is the fact that it launched the iTunes store in the country in December.
