Apple India

A Group Assignment by:

• Tanvi Ruparelia

• Praveen

7th December 2007

Apple �iPhones’ India

A buyer behaviour analysis of likely decision process for purchasing the Apple iPhone tm in India

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPLE INC.: AN INDUSTRY BENCHMARK FOR INNOVATION 2

THE APPLE IPHONE 2

INDIAN MOBILE MARKET 2

THE INDIAN MOBILE USER 3

BUYING DECISION PROCESS: THE INDIAN MINDSET 3

NEED RECOGNITION: �I WANT A MOBILE PHONE!’ 4

Need Recognition Influencers 4

SEARCH FOR INFORMATION: �I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MOBILE PHONES’ 5

PRE-PURCHASE EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES: �WHICH PHONE, THE N95 OR THE IPHONE?’ 6

PURCHASE: �I AM BUYING APPLES’ IPHONE!’ 6

CONSUMPTION: �I AM USING APPLES’ IPHONE!’ 7

POST-CONSUMPTION EVALUATION: �I LIKED APPLES’ IPHONE’ 7

DIVESTMENT: �I AM BUYING A NEW HANDSET EXCHANGING THIS!’ 7

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Apple Inc. launches the iPhone in India

A buyer behaviour analysis of likely decision process for purchasing the Apple iPhone tm in India

Apple Inc.: An Industry Benchmark for Innovation

1976 April 1st, was the day Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs and guided by Mike Markkula setup the legendary organisation in their garage. The successful launch of the Apple I in 1976 to the Apple iPod’s revolutionary success has given Apple Inc. an indomitable aura of success over the years.

"Soon there will be 2 kinds of people. Those who use computers, and those who use Apples."

-Early 1980s Apple Ad slogan

The company is committed to bringing the best personal computing and music experience to students, educators, creative professionals, businesses, government agencies, and consumers through its innovative hardware, software, peripherals, services, and Internet offerings. The company's business strategy leverages its unique ability, through the design and development of its own operating system, hardware, and many software applications and technologies, to bring to its customers new products and solutions with superior ease-of-use, seamless integration, and innovative industrial design.

The Apple iPhone

The talk in early 2004 of Apple’s foray into the Mobile industry and ongoing research, send shockwaves through the market, manufacturers and consumers alike. In the history of the cellular industry, no phone ever created so much buzz with some people camping out overnight to be first in line. AT&T/Cingular stores closed early Friday, June 29, 2007 to set up the displays, reopening at 6pm and staying late to accommodate customers. iPhone activation can also be done at home in the iTunes software, but due to heavy demand, some of the first subscribers had to wait hours to complete the process.

The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone with music and video playback and a two-megapixel camera. It includes up to 8GB of flash storage and Bluetooth for wireless headphones. For Internet access, it offers Wi-Fi for hotspot connections and the slower EDGE cellular data network when a hotspot is not available. Powered by an ARM processor, it uses a custom version of the Mac OS X operating system.

Indian Mobile Market

After USA and China, India is the worlds 3rd largest mobile population since 2007. It is fuelled as her booming middle class 'go mobile'. Younger Indians are opting into mobiles as mobile prices drop and become more affordable. The prices of handset continue to drop and the calls are getting cheaper. In Asia, India is the third largest economy to boasts the cheapest call local mobile call rates in the world. (India Mobile Market Statistics 2006)

There is intense competition in the mobile sector. The major players in this market are Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung and LG. Nokia is dominating the sector with a 59% market share, followed by Samsung with 13% and Motorola with 7%. The Indian handset market gratifies 45 million subscribers (June 2005) and sales worth Rs.8.05billion as of 2004/05. The companies are buoyant by the increase mobile users which are expected to cross 230 million by 2007 end and 500 million by 2010. It is also found that Indians are willing to pay more for upgrades, value-based services, and advanced models that provide better services. (Indian Mobile Handset Market, 2005)

The Indian Mobile User

India's mobile phone sector is allocated as one of the fastest growing markets globally with eight million users spread across some 1,500 cities and more than 60,000 villages. Mobile companies are now targeting the India's poorer citizens also by launching services that guarantee a number for life time. The number of users in India has increased incredibly around 120 million. (Indian mobile users to reach 120 million by 2008, Indian Mobile Handset Market)

The Apples’ iPhone is an expensive piece. It has targeted upper middle class and above as its customers. The customer who wants an iPhone would look for style and various technical features. The iPhone customer is the one who will get an edge over other handset users as it allows the user to operate using a finger tap. iPhone also would get in customers who use ipod as the iPhone has the iPod features also.

Buying Decision Process: The Indian Mindset

Apple dominates the mp3 player market since its foray with its legendary iPod. Mp3 player manufacturers even today hope to make a dent in Apples strangelhold in that particular market. The success