Apple India is Revamping its Marketing Plans.
Apple has acknowledged on numerous occasions that it sees a major potential in the Indian markets and wants to utilise it to the fullest. The push towards opening the Apple flagship stores in India looks like foundation on which Apple plans to build its massive empire in our country.
However, official stores is not the be all and end all of Apple’s plans in India. The company is planning to redefine the rules of its marketing game and is set to revolutionise the way iPhones are being sold in the country. Sounds exciting, right!!
Currently, the leading exporters of iPhone in India are Ingram and Reddington and a vast majority of sales go through them. The sales model followed by them is not unique or exceptional in the sense that it is similar to that of most other electronic goods. When we say that it is akin to that of the other electronic products, we mean that the prices of most of the electronic devices at launch including Apple’s are temporary because they tend to drop within 4-6 months.
It's easy to assume that this strategy is followed all over the world, right? Wrong. Apple does not go down this marketing road in many parts of the world. It, instead, opts for something called First-Customer Price Protection Model.
So how does this model work? Well, it's pretty simple. It means that the prices of the products do not decrease with time and remain more or less the same during the product’s lifecycle. It would encourage the prospective buyers to purchase the product at its launch, and will also ensure that the people who do get the product initally do not lose out to those who wait for the prices to drop.
Apple is planning to adopt this move because it would make sure that all or at least most of the interested buyers get their products right at the launch, which in turn would help the company increase their sales. So it is a win-win situation for both - the company and the consumers.
iPhone SE was priced at Rs. 39,000 at launch, while at the same time iPhone 6S was available at Rs. 40,000. This meant that by shelling out just a thousand rupees more you could buy a phone with a bigger screen for yourself. And that’s what proved to be the case in reality. The Indian consumers, instead of buying the newly launched iPhone SE, they chose 6S instead, and it is no surprise that the cost difference coupled with a bigger screen acted as a significant incentive.
So Apple wants to correct the mistake by taking control of the prices directly and bringing it on par with the marketing strategy employed by it all over the world. This means that we would be able to purchase Apple products right at the launch because there won’t be any significant price drops to look forward to.
While we know that iPhones in India won’t get cheaper anytime soon, we are definitely looking forward to this new sales plan, which would help the Indian consumers get a lower price right in the beginning.
