Apple stakes future growth on emerging markets, starting with India

When Apple Inc surprised investors this week with a rise in iPhone sales despite a slump in the global smartphone market, chief executive Tim Cook credited emerging markets like India where the company is luring away Android phone users.

Cook is betting that those markets will provide more opportunities for growth, with their youthful populations and relatively few iPhones.

Apple said iPhone sales rose 1.5 per cent to $51.3 billion for its fiscal second quarter even as global smartphone shipments fell 13 per cent in January to March, according to research firm Canalys, whose data showed Apple gained market share from Android phones.

Apple said it set sales records in several countries across South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

“We’re putting efforts in a number of these markets and really see, particularly given our low share and the dynamics of the demographics, a great opportunity for us in those markets,” Cook told investors during a conference call.

India is perhaps Apple’s biggest focus. The company recently opened its first two retail stores there, in Mumbai and Delhi, and while Apple does not disclose revenue for the country, Cook told investors that it set a quarterly record and percentage growth was in very strong double digits year-over-year.

“There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it’s great to be there,” Cook said on the conference call.

Apple was the second biggest revenue generating brand in India in 2022, second only to Samsung as it gained 18 per cent of the total value of smartphone shipments, according to research firm Counterpoint.

“We encourage the market and it provides us an opportunity to hit some price points that we would not otherwise play in,” Cook said in the interview.