The Ripe Apple

Just a week before the India visit of Apple chief Steve

Jobs, a range of products were announced for the Indian market. The iMac, the

iPod Radio Remote, the new Mac mini, the iPod Hi-Fi, the iLife, MacBook,

iWork'06, and the1GB iPod. You name it, and it's there. Never before in the

history of Indian IT, has Apple been so generous and so optimistic with India.

A quick look at the product features will tell us who Apple

has in mind as potential buyers. The iMac for instance is said to be targeted

for videoconferencing and rich media experience applications. Priced at about Rs

80,000, the iMac comes with iLife, a suite of digital lifestyle applications for

creating websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts.

Similarly, the iPod Radio Remote has a wired remote control

with FM radio capabilities. It will allow music lovers to skip tracks and adjust

the volume of their iPod even when it's in a pocket or a backpack, and listen

to FM radio stations while displaying station and song information on the

screen.

The iPod Hi-Fi is a speaker system that works seamlessly

with the iPod for an altogether different experience in the home stereo system.

With claims of an excellent acoustic performance and room-filling sound it can

be powered from a wall socket or by six D-cell batteries.

The iLife '06 offers some innovative features for digital

lifestyle applications including sharing photos over the Internet, movies, and

making custom DVDs for widescreen TVs.

The MacBook Pro notebook is just one inch thin, weighs only

5.6 pounds, and offers videoconferencing on the go. 



The iWork '06 has new
features designed to make it easy for users to create even more compelling

documents and presentations.

Clearly, the bag of products that Apple is now bringing to

India has offerings primarily for the high-end digital lifestyle consumers. But

Apple should not consider it a niche market. This niche is actually a big,

growing, demanding, and increasingly aware market.

Apple will need to work on a lot of fronts if it wants to

make a mark. And in fact, with the kind of possible growth for lifestyle

products in India, Apple should look and plan for big numbers.

The type of users that Apple wants to sell to, are spread

out all over the country. They are not restricted to the metros and big cities.

Therefore, reach in smaller cities and towns will be critical. Obviously,

besides sales channels, Apple will need to have a solid plan for after sales

support.

Another feedback for Apple is that they are perceived as a

high-priced product company. While the company can plan to get major chunk of

revenue from high value customers, the fact is that today even those high value

customers believe that prices of IT products are coming down drastically, and

why shouldn't Apple too chop prices. Therefore, Apple will not only have to

work out lucrative price points, but will also have to change buyers' old

perception that Apple means expensive.

I must also add that the sailing for Apple is not going to

be very easy. There are scores from among the well established IT as well as

telecom product players which are increasingly looking at either offering these

type of products, or incorporating them in their existing products.

Success of Apple is important not only for Apple but for

India too. The company with its wide range of lifestyle products can actually

bring about a revolution on the home and SOHO front. Success of Apple products

in India will have a positive impact on IT adoption in sectors such as

education, entertainment, e-Governance, and e-commerce, for instance.