In the year that ended September, Apple said sales of its iPhones in India grew by 50 per cent and that the country had the potential to become its next China. The company sold close to 2.5 million units during those 12 months and is looking at services such as Apple Music to woo more users to buy into its ecosystem as it struggles to expand its 3 per cent market share.
Both Ola and Apple did not agree to reveal the financials of the deal. An Ola spokesperson, however, said the integration with its new Ola Play platform will mutually benefit both companies, bringing more riders to Ola and giving users a taste of Apple's service.
Last year Apple launched its music streaming service on Android devices, the first Apple product to come to Google's mobile operating system. In India, the company launched the service at a subsidised price of Rs 120 (approx $2) for an individual subscription and Rs 190 (approx $3) for a family subscription to take on local rivals such as Gaana and Saavn.
This fee is far lower than what Apple charges customers in the US for instance where Apple Music is priced at $9.99 and $14.99. Analysts said the move was in line with Apple giving Indian users a taste of its service to the millions of Android users here, owing to 94 per cent of all smartphones in the country running on Android and hoping that they upgrade to a more expensive iPhone.
Apple's efforts to locally produce and sell low-cost refurbished models has been snubbed by the Indian government and is hoping that it would engage with premium customers by opening its Apple stories in the country.
The US tech giant's partnership with Ola comes on the back of the US tech giant's $1 billion investment in Didi Chuxing, a partner and investor in Ola, in May. The company is riding on Ola's new in-car entertainment platform Ola Play, which was unveiled at an event in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
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"Music is at the heart of every car ride and we've designed music to be at the heart of Ola Play. We've worked with none other than Apple Music to create a unique experience. It's very different and much better than the experience you have in your own car," said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola.
Ola has said that it will install multimedia tablets in every one of its cabs which will give customers access to audio and video streaming services such as Apple Music and Sony Liv, hoping to get their loyalty in its fight with Uber. The company has partnered with Qualcomm to power the hardware that will go into each of the cars and will be able to control in-car functions in the future.
Car manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra which has already signed a deal with Ola to sell 40,000 cars to drivers on Ola's platform, said it will take the integration further in future models. Apart from its partners, Ola said its open platform will allow other developers to build their services into its cabs, giving them access to millions of customers.
Ola claims it does over a million rides a day with an average travel time of 60 minutes, giving developers who jump onto its platform huge access to consumer time. However, the company did not disclose whether it would earn revenue through its partnerships.
Uber in the US had partnered with Apple's rival Spotify in November 2014 to allow customers control music within the car.
"The opportunity our country and Ola has is to make this leapfrog this traditional paradigm of car ownership and move to ridesharing. We want to make your Ola ride much better than your personal ride and that's possible," said Aggarwal of Ola.