Apple Seems All Set to Double Down on This Massive Smartphone Market

India is the world's second-largest market for smartphones. It surpassed the U.S. for that spot in 2019 as shipments increased 7% over the prior year to 158 million units, according to Counterpoint Research. But the more price-sensitive nature of that market means that the world's third-largest smartphone maker, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), is a bits-and-pieces player in it.

Chinese vendors dominate India's smartphone market thanks to their aggressively priced and feature-packed devices. Apple isn't even among the top five smartphone brands there -- and those top five original equipment manufacturers account for 92% of sales. But recently, green shoots have emerged for Apple in India.

Sales of iPhones in India jumped in the second quarter even as the overall market contracted by 51%. What's even more surprising is that the market share of Chinese vendors slipped to 72% from 81% in the first quarter. The good news is that Apple is just getting started, and preparations are reportedly underway for it to make changes that will position it to take a bigger bite of this lucrative market.

Source Fool.com