There’s no denying that the OS landscape is dominated by Android. In India’s mobile-first market, Android continues to lead the pack with close to 75 percent overall market share. The iOS, however, is carving a niche market in the country—one that is bolstered by its popularity among India’s casino app players.
Apple ‘not sustainably targeting’ India
India’s current OS landscape is multifaceted, according to ENV Media analysts. In their research, which utilizes proprietary data and analytic feedback from its properties including Indian affiliate SevenJackpots, the ENV Media analysts noted that Android-powered mobile devices are popular among online gambling players in the country not only because it’s cheaper, but there’s also the fact that the Android OS is open, the mobile hardware is manufactured locally, and tech support can be easily found in the country.
In comparison, Apple was “not sustainably targeting” the Indian market, which resulted in it not being able to break stably into the “multifaceted” OS landscape of India, analysts said. This is a far cry from its efforts in other parts of the world, where the tech giant has opened multitude of storefronts and tech facilities. Just recently, Apple opened a new store called Apple Tower Theater in California in the U.S.—its 26th store in Los Angeles alone.
While Android currently enjoys a 74.65 percent market share of India’s OS landscape, including desktop and tablet devices. Windows follows second with 16.17 percent overall share, while iOS and OS X combined have 3.6 percent market share, and KaiOS has 0.76 percent and “Unknown” OS has 3.91 percent.
Apple represented in large urban cities
It’s worth noting that Apple-branded devices are more widely represented in large urban cities like Delhi—incidentally also one of the states where casual online games are played most online per capita, according to a separate ENV Media report on “India’s richest cities and its large online gambling communities, prefer to play on legit websites like 10Cric.com.”
“The iPhone remains a status symbol for most desi consumers, whether they possess one or have never seen one. Apple sales may be promoted by individual influencers with following in Delhi and Mumbai, for example, those already affluent and those wishing to look prosperous,” ENV Media analysts said.
The tech giant, however, has been reportedly making significant strategic changes: it’s gearing up to open its first official store in India, after launching a dedicated online store for Apple India in late 2020. It also opened plant facilities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Apple is also trying to reposition its image, especially in the area of privacy by blocking access to a random data tracking virtual device called Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).
“In the past year or so, Apple has shown an ambition to raise its sales performance in India. Besides software and price issues (key in any such decision-making), the company needs to make a consistent effort to target desi consumers. More specifically, through actual stores, service coverage, and better price offers,” according to ENV Media.
In conclusion, the ENV Media report offered insights on why Android devices are popular in India—and how Apple can harness these as it ramps up its presence in the country: “Smartphones need to be accessible, easily found, and compared; they should have similar traits to those of friends and relatives, and they should offer the chance to play multiplayer card games or share casual gaming insights. In that way, Android devices have the distinction of being affordable and ubiquitous. While gaming is a social pastime, RMG forms and the evolution of monetization take the industry to another level—more direct and beyond advertising dependence.”
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