Apple CEO Tim Cook is "extremely bullish" on the India market and has expressed confidence in selling more iPhones across the country. Cook said that despite economic headwinds, Apple managed to set quarterly records in India and explained that India is a major market for Apple, he'll bring its first retail store soon in the country.
"Looking at the business in India, we set a quarterly revenue record and grew very strong double digits year over year. And so we feel very good about how we performed, and that was -- that's despite the headwinds that we've talked about. Taking a step back, India is hugely exciting market for us and is a major focus," Cook said during the earnings call.
Apple has set an all-time revenue record for the India market, along with quarterly records in Brazil and India, Cook said. Answering a question during Apple's earnings call, Cook said that the company did fairly well in India even through the COVID-19 pandemic. "And I'm even more bullish now on the other side of it, or hopefully, on the other side of it. And that's the reason why we're investing there. We're bringing retail there and bringing the online store there and putting a significant amount of energy there. I'm very bullish on India," Cook added.
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What gives Apple CEO Tim Cook the confidence on the India market
Apple's market share in the smartphone market in India has steadily, but slowly grown over the past years and stood at 3.54 percent in December 2022, according to data from Statista. Cook said that the company would have done even better in India if not for economic headwinds, especially the growing skew between the Indian Rupee and the US Dollar.
Global macroeconomic conditions caused the company to report a 5 percent year-over-year dip in revenue to $117.2 billion. Cook blamed foreign exchange headwinds, COVID-19 challenges and the complicated macroeconomic environment for the dip. The COVID-19 situation in China resulted in Apple’s massive Foxconn complex to be shut causing severe production and supply issues throughout the year.
Apple to launch its first retail store store in Mumbai
Apple is set to launch its own-branded first brick-and-mortar store in Mumbai anytime soon.
On the opportunity in India post-pandemic, Cook said, "We actually did fairly well through Covid in India and I'm even more bullish now, hopefully on the other side of it".
"That's the reason why we are investing there by bringing retail there, bringing the online store there and putting out a significant amount of energy there. I'm very bullish on India," Cook added.
"We are putting a lot of emphasis on the market. There's been a lot going from financing options and trade-ins to make products more affordable and give people more options to buy," said Apple CEO.
Luca Maestri, Apple's Chief Financial Officer, said that the growth is coming from every major product category and geographic segment, "with strong double digit increases in emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam."
Apple sold 2 million iPhones in India in the holiday quarter (Q4) of 2022, registering 18 per cent growth (quarter-on-quarter) for its flagship device.
The India market share of iPhones reached 5.5 per cent for 2022, an 11 per cent growth (year-on-year).
According to the latest CMR data, iPhone 14 series logged 59 per cent market share in Q4 2022, followed by iPhone 13 series at 32 per cent growth.
(With inputs from agencies)
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
First Published: Feb 3, 2023 12:03 PM IST
