India has become the last bastion of growth for technology giant Apple which for the first time witnessed a drop in sales of its flagship iPhone for the quarter that ended March 31. While global iPhone sales fell by 16 per cent in the quarter, iPhone sales in India were up by 56 per cent during the period.
Apple reported its first drop in quarterly sales in over a decade, with revenues dropping by 13 per cent to $50.6 billion while profits slid by 22 per cent to $10.5 billion for the three months that ended March 31. Growth ofiPhone sales in US and China (the company’s two largest markets) has begun to fall as the markets have hit saturation, forcing the company to turn its attention to India.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said that with a global smartphone penetration of 42 per cent, there was still room for growth, especially in emerging markets. “For example, in India our iPhone sales were up 56% from a year ago,” he said in a call with investors to review Apple’s financial results.
India has begun showing consistent high double digit growth for iPhone sales, with the Cupertino company registering a 76 per cent increase during the October to December quarter. This demand from the emerging markets (especially India) drove Apple to release its most affordable smartphone yet, the 4-inch iPhone SE that’s now being aimed at people switching over from Android to the iPhone.
While sales of the SE was not reflected in the Jan-Mar quarter since the device launched only on March 31, “so far this quarter we're seeing terrific customer response,” said Cook. “The addition of the iPhone SE in the iPhone lineup places us in a better strategic position to attract even more customers into our ecosystem.”Read More.
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