By Ankita Chakravarti: Apple iPhone is finding new customers in India quarter after quarter. At least that is what Apple’s latest quarterly results show. On Thursday Apple declared results for its Q3. While the numbers are all about the company’s world-wide business, of which India is just one part, in the earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted a few India-specific bits. Of note was Cook’s insistence that the strong showing of the iPhone in India in the latest quarter was partly fuelled by two Apple Stores — one in Delhi and one in Mumbai — that Apple opened in April this year.
Cook, who visited India to inaugurate the two retail stores in Delhi and Mumbai, expressed his satisfaction with their performance, stating that the stores are exceeding expectations.
“We also opened our first two retail stores during the quarter and of course it’s early going currently, but they are currently beating our expectations in terms of how they are doing. We continue to work on building out the channel and putting more investment in our direct-to-consumer offers as well,” he said.
In other words, the company is also hoping to open more Apple Stores in India.
Recognizing India’s position as the world’s second-largest smartphone market, Cook emphasized that Apple should be performing exceptionally well in the country. He acknowledged that, despite their growth, the company’s current market share in India’s smartphone market remains low. However, he believes India presents a huge opportunity for Apple, and they are committed to putting all their energies into achieving success there.
“India is the second largest smartphone market in the world and we ought to be doing really well there and we are very pleased with our growth there. We still have a very, very modest and low share in this smartphone market, so I think it’s a huge opportunity for us. And we are putting in all of our energies to make that occur,” he added.
In the same call, Apple’s Chief Financial Officer, Luca Maestri, added that the company achieved an all-time sales record in India. He said, “We set June quarter records and revenue growth in double digits for the iPhone in India with a very strong performance there.”
Apple on Thursday reported quarterly revenue of $81.8 billion, down 1 per cent year over year. Although, it did beat the sales expectations.
Apple now 7th largest smartphone brand in India
IDC on Friday said that Apple is now ranked as the seventh largest smartphone brand in India, with a market share of 5.5 per cent during the April-June quarter. The top 5G models shipped in India during that period were Apple’s iPhone 13 and OnePlus Nord CE3 Lite.
The report mentioned that Apple achieved a 61 per cent year-on-year growth in sales in India. However, the overall smartphone market in the country had a different story. It faced a 3 per cent decline in shipments compared to the same period last year. Though, there was a promising 10 per cent sequential growth in the market when comparing it to the previous quarter, i.e.January to March.
