Apple iPods are hot in India

Apple's iPods have stamped its authority among the country's style-conscious music buffs, but many of its other products, including the iconic iPhone have not found too many takers in India, researchers tracking the industry said. According to research firm IDC, iPods dominate the portable music player category with a 62 per cent market share, many times ahead of its nearest competitor Transcend from Taiwan that commands 15 per cent share.

Experts attribute the success of Apple's iPods to affordable price points and widespread distribution. Apple's iPods are priced between Rs 2,300 to Rs 21,000 equipped with different features and user-interfaces.

Easy availability of the gadget that is also found in stationary shops have also boosted sales. "In 2006, only about 15,000 units of iPods were being sold every quarter but Apple cut down prices last September and that has given a boost to its sales in India," said Shiladitya Sarkar, senior analyst, peripherals research, IDC. The company's product, however, staggers behind its Indian and global peers in the personal computers sales.

The response to iPhone has been rather lukewarm, unlike the United States where buyers waited in long queues to get hold of the device, analysts said, although official sales numbers were not known. An Apple spokesperson in Singapore declined to comment on Apple's India specific pricing and distribution strategy.

"Barring iPods, Apple's products are extremely unaffordable," said Rajesh Kurup, research director, eTechnology Group at research firm IMRB. "This does make the brand iconic and aspirational but the high cost and skeletal sales encourage grey market operators to deal in Apple products." Sumanta Mukherjee, analyst, computing products research, IDC India said vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell have a huge product portfolio, with different products at different price points whereas Apple is catering only to high-end users of personal computers.

"Indian buyers are not just price conscious but also demand value, else low cost computers would have grabbed market share," Mukherjee said. "The Apple Macs continue to be limited to a few niche segment - segments that requires high end graphic processing capability," Kurup said.

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