Apple's latest strategic move to expand its presence in India involves a significant partnership with Bharti Airtel, the country's second-largest telecom operator. This deal aims to enhance the availability of Apple TV+ and Apple Music by offering free streaming services to Airtel's vast customer base. This initiative marks a pivotal shift in Apple's approach to the Indian market, where it has previously focused primarily on manufacturing to diversify its supply chain.
The collaboration with Airtel is poised to significantly increase Apple TV+ and Apple Music's user base in India. This is a crucial development for Apple, which has historically concentrated on manufacturing within the country to mitigate its reliance on China. The partnership addresses a gap in Apple's content offerings in India, where it has struggled to match the dominance of established players like Spotify and Disney.
Despite its considerable efforts to boost its profile in India, Apple's market share remains modest. For instance, although Apple builds a substantial number of iPhones in India, the company’s devices account for only 6% of the country's smartphone market, up from 2% in 2019. The partnership with Airtel is seen as a strategic move to enhance Apple's footprint in India's highly competitive content market.
The deal is expected to deliver Apple Music to premium users of Airtel's Wynk music app, which is set to be phased out. This transition highlights Airtel’s focus on leveraging Apple’s extensive music library to offer enhanced value to its subscribers. Currently, Airtel’s postpaid contracts provide access to an ad-free version of Wynk, but only a fraction of subscribers utilize this feature. By integrating Apple Music, Airtel aims to boost user engagement and satisfaction.
In India’s dynamic music streaming market, Apple Music lags behind competitors like Spotify, which boasts approximately 3 million paid users. Other players in the market include Gaana with 1.4 million users and Wynk with 500,000 users. Apple Music's presence, with around 200,000 users, is comparatively smaller. This disparity underscores the potential impact of the Airtel partnership in amplifying Apple’s reach in this segment.
Airtel's agreement with Apple involves paying a per-user fee lower than the standard monthly rate of $1.20 for Apple TV+ and Apple Music in India. This arrangement is anticipated to be cost-effective for Airtel, as it plans to discontinue Wynk and use Apple Music to enhance its revenue and customer loyalty. By focusing on distribution rather than content creation, Airtel seeks to optimize its operational strengths.
Apple’s position in the Indian video streaming market is relatively weak, with estimates suggesting fewer than 1 million users for Apple TV+. In contrast, Disney+ Hotstar leads the market with approximately 38 million users, and Netflix holds around 10 million subscribers. The competitive landscape includes Disney and Reliance Industries' JioCinema, which have merged their media assets to form a dominant entertainment entity in India.
Despite having popular original series like "The Morning Show" and "Slow Horses," Apple TV+ faces stiff competition from rivals who offer more localized content, including Hindi and regional-language films. Disney and JioCinema’s focus on streaming cricket, a sport of immense popularity in India, further intensifies the competition. Apple's success in gaining market share will depend on its ability to localize content and optimize its offerings for Indian audiences.
The Airtel partnership represents a significant step for Apple in expanding its reach within India’s burgeoning digital content market. By offering Apple TV+ and Apple Music as part of Airtel’s service packages, Apple aims to increase its visibility and user base. However, the effectiveness of this strategy will be contingent on how well Apple can tailor its content to meet local preferences and compete with entrenched players in both the music and video streaming sectors.
Conclusion
The partnership between Apple and Bharti Airtel marks a critical juncture in Apple's efforts to enhance its presence in the Indian market. By integrating Apple TV+ and Apple Music into Airtel's offerings, Apple aims to strengthen its position in a competitive landscape dominated by established players. This move highlights Apple’s commitment to expanding its global footprint and adapting its services to meet the needs of diverse markets. As the partnership progresses, it will be essential to monitor its impact on user engagement and market dynamics in India.