Does Apple's Price Shock Give Samsung a Rare Opening in India?

Apple may have just handed Samsung something money can’t buy: a reason for Indian consumers to reconsider the iPhone. Hours after unveiling its newest models on September 9, Apple raised prices on existing iPhones in India by up to 41%, breaking its habit of discounting older models when new ones land. The iPhone 17's base variant, launched at ₹82,900, now starts at ₹99,900; the 1TB iPhone Air jumped 41% to ₹2,24,900. The US saw milder hikes of 13% and 21% on the same models. India's gap stems from import duties, an 18% GST, and a global memory crunch that has made smartphone DRAM nearly 4x pricier since September 2025. For Apple, the math may still work. For Samsung, it’s an opening. The question is whether Samsung can take it.

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The ₹1 lakh line

A mainstream iPhone 17 is now effectively a ₹1 lakh phone. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at ₹1,64,900, ₹30,000 more than its predecessor, and tops at ₹3,14,900 for 2TB. Samsung doesn't need to argue that a Galaxy is "as good as" an iPhone. It can ask: how much of the iPhone experience are Indian buyers willing to pay a steep premium for?

A market in freefall

Counterpoint Research reports that India's smartphone shipments fell 10% year-on-year in Q2 2026, the steepest June-quarter decline in six years; the sub-₹15,000 segment collapsed 45%. One brand grew anyway. Vivo led with 18% share, but its budget lineup took a double-digit hit. Samsung, in second, closed in on the lead by a point, the only top-five brand to post positive shipment growth, up 2% YoY. Apple’s own shipments fell 3% YoY that quarter on supply constraints, leaving it at 7%. Zooming out to 2025, premium phones (above ₹30,000) accounted for a record 22% of shipments. Apple wasn't standing still either; its shipments grew 28% YoY, and it posted its highest-ever value share at 28%. Apple is getting bigger and pricier at once; this hike is a bet that growth holds even as it charges more.

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Compete on value, not price

The instinct after a rival’s hike is to undercut it. Wrong move: Samsung is fighting the same cost war, having raised Galaxy prices nine times in the last eight months. A price war means fighting on margins already squeezed from both sides. The smarter move: raise perceived value, not the sticker price. Bundle in Galaxy Buds, sweeten trade-ins, push no-cost EMI, and lean into Galaxy AI. Financing already accounts for 40% of India's smartphone volume, and two-thirds of premium purchases go on EMI. Indian buyers already think in installments, not the sticker price.

Foldables: Samsung's real home turf

Samsung held 88% of India’s foldable segment in 2025, a near-monopoly. Apple's iPhone Duo starts at $1,999, roughly $1,100 more in India than in the US. Globally, Counterpoint Research sees Apple reaching 25% of the foldable market this year, compared with Samsung's 38%; TrendForce, instead, puts Huawei nearly level with Apple, making it a three-way fight. In India, though, Apple's entry could do Samsung's marketing for it, legitimizing a category Samsung already dominates.

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The harder truth

Price alone won’t move millions of loyal iPhone owners. Apple’s ecosystem, including Watch, AirPods, and iCloud, is sticky by design, and for many, an iPhone is a status object rather than a spec sheet. Samsung's real target isn't the loyalist; it's the next buyer, someone with a ₹70,000-₹80,000 phone due for an upgrade, staring at ₹99,900 and wondering if it's worth it. It’s also not a two-brand story. Nothing grew 105% YoY in Q2 2026 on the back of a cricket sponsorship; Google’s Pixel grew 68% in the ultra-premium segment. The fight is crowded at the edges.

Has Apple handed Samsung its moment?

Perhaps. Apple is making the iPhone more exclusive; Samsung can make the Galaxy more rational. Not by calling the iPhone overpriced, but with a quieter question: Do I really need to pay the Apple premium? If that question spreads, Apple’s price hike may be remembered less as a revenue win and more as the moment it handed Samsung its biggest opening in India’s premium market in years.

(Sandeep Yadav is Assistant Professor, Strategy area at IIM Bangalore and Jagriti Srivastava is Assistant Professor, Finance and Accounting Area at IIM Indore.Views are personal.)