Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company posted all-time record revenue in India in the October-December quarter despite the demonetisation move which created lot of economic pressure.The chief of the iconic US-based makers of iPhone and iPads added the impact of demonetisation has not worked its way and the company continues to place its long term bet in India.
“It's still definitely having some overhang. But I think in the longer term, it's a great move, and I feel really good about how we're doing there. We are in discussions on a number of things, including retail stores, and fully intend to invest significantly in the country and believe it's a great place to be,” Cook said.
Cook was addressing analysts during the company’s earnings calls on Wednesday early morning.
ET was the first to report in November how iPhone became one of the largest selling product after demonetisation as customers rushed to buy the costliest of smartphones and luxury items to utilise their phased out Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes. Retailers had reported higher sales of iPhones in the three days immediately after the demonetisation was announced than even the three days before Diwali.
Analysts, however, also attributed Apple’s record revenue last quarter in India to a hugely successful new iPhone7 and 7Plus and absence of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Note 7 which was pulled out by the company due to technical issues.
In fact, market tracker Counterpoint Research had recently estimated that Apple achieved landmark sales in 2016 in India crossing 2.5 million units, with one-third of its total shipment coming alone from the October-December quarter.
Apple eventually captured the tenth position in the smartphone rankings during the last quarter, but led the premium segment (above Rs 30,000) with 62% market share, replacing Samsung which ended the period with 35% share. Google’s Pixel had 5% share.
However, the Apple management also stressed that its not just iPhone which is growing in India but even iPads and Mac computers.
Apple’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri said while the company globally sold record units of Mac computers during the quarter, it was driven by double-digit unit growth in several countries, including Japan, Mainland China, India, the Netherlands, Sweden and the US.
He also informed that China and India reported double-digit growth in iPad sales as the company expanded distribution channels there.
ET had also reported earlier how Apple now taps the neighbourhood electronic and cellphone stores to sell its entire product range and had started compulsory bundling of its other products with iPhones in select markets to push their sales.
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