Apple has reduced prices of its iPhone models in India by 3-4% following a cut in import duties in the South Asian market. The price cuts range from 3000 rupees ($36) for models like the iPhone 13, 14 and 15, and to up to 6,000 rupees ($72) for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max units.
This marks the first time Apple has lowered the prices on the current-generation Pro models in India. The move follows India agreeing to reduce basic customs duty on mobile phones to 15% from 20% in its annual budget earlier this week.
The price cut also comes at a time when the iPhone shipment is slowing down in China, according to industry data. Canalys said this week that Apple’s smartphone shipments in China had fallen by 6.7% in the quarter ending June.
Apple had no comment.
Though the price reduction is a welcome move, the iPhones remain prohibitively expensive in India. The base-iPhone 15 Pro, which costs $999 in the U.S., is still priced at $1,550 in India.
India has emerged as a key overseas market for Apple, which is increasingly expanding its manufacturing base in the world’s most populous nation. Apple’s revenue in India jumped 42% year-on-year in 2023 to $8.7 billion, according to Morgan Stanley.
The iPhone shipments in India grew 39% year-on-year in 2023 to 9.2 million units, making it iPhone’s fifth largest smartphone market. India’s iPhone business is larger than any standalone country in the European Union, Morgan Stanley added.
The market share of iPhone is also surging in India amid economic improvements in the country. Apple had double-digit market share in India’s smartphone market in Q4 last year, though the share has fallen since, according to UBS and Counterpoint.