Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-09)

◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek November 9, 2020

35

ILLUSTRATION

BY

KATI

SZILAGYI.

DATA:

NEWZOO

THEBOTTOMLINE India’slowsmartphonepenetrationrateis a

growthopportunityformakersofthedevices,whichareunveiling

dozensofmodelsaheadofIndia’sbiggestshoppingseason.

U.S.

U.K.

Germany

Russia

China

Indonesia

Mexico

Japan

Brazil

India

▼ Share of population

that uses a smartphone

82%

78

78

68

61

58

54

53

51

32

4,999rupees($67),whilethemostexpensiveis

theGalaxyZ Fold2at149,999rupees.“It’sa very

strongcomeback,andouroutlookis 40%growth

inQ4,”Warsisays.

Fifth-generationtechnologywillbeputondis-

play.China’sOnePlusTechnologywillbetouting

itsOnePlus8T5Gdevice,andLenovoGroup’s

MotorolaRazr5Gwillofferfoldablephonecom-

petition.Xiaomiwillhaveitsbudget-friendlyPoco

C3;AsustekComputerInc.willcourtgamerswith

itsROGPhone3.Xiaomisaidthatit hadalready

sold5 millionphonesintheweekofOct. 15 via

Amazon.comInc.,WalmartInc.’sFlipkart,andits

ownwebsite.A contractioninIndia’ssmartphone

market “in the pandemic-struck first half of 2020

has made it an intensely competitive festival sea-

son,” says Anshul Gupta, research director at

Gartner India. “Vendors are lining up models to

appeal to every type of buyer.”

Apple, which in years past was effectively priced

out of India’s market, is going big in 2020. The com-

pany is increasingly turning its focus toward the

country to reduce its dependence on China both

as a market and as a manufacturing base amid

escalating tensions between Washington and

Beijing. Apple opened its Indian online store in

September with a special offer of free AirPods and

personalized engravings—in a choice of seven local

languages—with iPhone 11 purchases. Within the

first two hours, Apple had to halt the offer abruptly

after running out of stock. The company set a

“September quarter record in India, thanks in part

to a very strong reception to this quarter’s launch of

our online store in the country,” CEO Tim Cook said

during the recent earnings conference.

Even long-dormant homegrown brands, deci-

mated by Chinese competitors, are making inroads.

Gurgaon-based Micromax Informatics Ltd., once a

favorite for its affordable gadgets, launched a new

series on Nov. 3. In another pre-Diwali promotion,

Xiaomi fashioned a traveling store-on-wheels to

reach semi-urban and rural shoppers by showing

up at weekly street fairs. Still, it’s uncertain how the

festivities will pan out given that India, much like

therestoftheworld,is wrestlingwitheconomic

uncertaintyduringtheCovid-19pandemic.While

thecountryhasthesecond-highest number of coro-

navirus infections after the U.S., the number of new

cases has steadily declined since a record high in

September. “Going into the high season of 2020,

we have rolled the dice,” says Warsi, of Samsung.

“We want to cater to every buyer looking to upgrade

their phone.” �Saritha Rai