According to a report from Economic Times, the launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in India yesterday has been a rather dull affair. The lower than anticipated demand and absence of excitement among people has resulted in disappointing sales of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in India. According to the report, retailers only managed to sell 33% of their total stock on launch day. This comes as a stark contrast to previous iPhone launches in India when stocks would sell out within an hour due to extremely high demand.
This is just yet another bit of news which further piles on the misery for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. It has been over a week since the iPhone 8 launched in some global markets such as the US, and early indications are not particularly positive. While we do not have any concrete sales numbers yet, the first-week adoption rate is for Apple’s latest offerings is lower than expected. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the first-week adoption is 50% lower than what it was for the iPhone 6/6S Plus and iPhone 7/7 Plus. This fact is also backed up by the fact that people just aren’t queuing up by Apple Stores in vast numbers like they used to.
Now, we find that performance is underwhelming in a potentially key future market like India as well, where the penetration of smartphone comparatively low. Like we outlined in a previous article, India is could potentially become a vital market for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the future, and poor sales do not bode well for their future in the country.
So why is this happening? And what does it mean for Apple going forward?
Well, perhaps the biggest reason behind underwhelming sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is the looming shadow of the iPhone X. With the special 10th-anniversary version of the iPhone yet to start shipping, it could be that many users are holding out for the best that Apple has to offer. If the iPhone X is a hit, overall sales may explode in the near future.
Of course, there are other factors at play here as well. A while back we reported on how strong iPhone 7/7 Plus sales earlier this year could hurt sales of the iPhone 8. The iPhone 8 also suffers from a lack of innovation, using the same physical design as the past 3 models. These factors, coupled with strong competition from the likes of Samsung, LG and Google could have quite possibly contributed to the muted sales response. Of course, all of this could change when the iPhone X starts shipping. Meanwhile, Apple is still making insane amounts of profit on its phones, so they will still make plenty of money regardless of what happens.
