Even as Apple’s overall revenue in the April-June quarter fell 1%, the company posted record revenue from its India operations and grew in strong double digits during the quarter, CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call with analysts. The growth in Apple’s revenue from India operations was owing to its iPhone sales in the country.
“We also opened our first two retail stores during the quarter. They are currently beating our expectations in terms of how they’re doing. We continue to work on building out the channel and putting more investment in our direct-to-consumer offers as well,” Cook said.
“If you look at India, it is the second largest smartphone market in the world. I am really pleased with our growth there, we still have a very, very modest and low share in the smartphone market. And so I think that it’s a huge opportunity for us. And we’re putting all of our energies in making that occur,” Cook added.
Apple’s overall revenue, however, fell 1% y-o-y (year-on-year) to $81.8 billion, owing to weak performance from markets such as the Americas, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Besides, despite improvement in iPhone sales in emerging markets like India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE, overall iPhone, Mac, and iPad sales declined.
While Apple did not declare the India-specific numbers, according to Counterpoint, India is now among the top five markets for Apple. The company continues to dominate the ultra-premium segment (Rs 45,000 and above) with a 59% share. Overall, Apple’s market share in India is expected to be 5.5%, according to market analyst firm IDC.
“The premiumisation trend gained momentum as the segment grew at a faster rate of 112% y-o-y. Rise of a value-based incentive system for retailers, aggressive promotions, availability of credit through various financing schemes, and OEMs’ focussed approach are driving premiumisation in India,” Counterpoint said.
According to industry estimates, Apple’s three vendors Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron contributed nearly Rs20,000 crore — two-thirds of the total30,000-crore exports — during the April-June period.
iPhone exports grew 400% during the quarter over the year-ago period. All three Apple vendors are participants in the government’s `38,601-crore smartphone production-linked incentive scheme.
In 2022, Apple’s India iPhone shipments stood at about 7 million and the same is expected to increase to 9 million in 2023, according to analysts. Industry sources said that Apple is looking at doubling and trebling its growth and investments in the country in the coming years.