Apple just announced its sales figures for the last quarter (Q4) of this fiscal year. Also referred to as ‘the Earnings Call’, these numbers recount the total business done by Apple in the past three months – June 25 to September 24, 2016.
Amidst global slowdown, India shines prominently in these numbers.
As compared to the previous year, Apple’s sales in India grew by 50%, ironically in sharp contrast to their performance globally, which has seen a marked decline.
Apple’s poor run is a first-of-its-kind for the tech giant that has only seen profits for 15 straight years. Their biggest stumbling block, probably, is their lack of hold on any emerging market. Obviously, any further deterioration is going to harm Apple’s reputation and the company is doing everything it can to avoid it.
Proof of this can be seen in the recent partnership Apple has struck up with Reliance Jio 4G in India. The details of the deal are still not public, but we can safely assume that Apple is working on bundled plans (or contract phones, as they’re called in the West) with Reliance. New buyers of iPhone 7 might stand to benefit with special Reliance Jio plans.
Tim Cook was enthusiasm embodied when speaking about the deal: “Looking ahead, we’re seeing some very exciting developments in India. Reliance Jio is rolling out a first-of-its-kind all-IP network in India with 4G coverage in 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages across the country. They’re offering a free year of service to purchasers of new iPhones and we’re partnering with them to ensure great iPhone performance on their network.”
While sales in their home country haven’t fallen to a worrying state yet, Apple’s performance in China is a different story altogether. It has lost a lot of ground in what was their biggest market outside of the US. Compared to Q4 last year, Apple’s sales in China fell from $12.5 billion to $8.8 billion. That’s a 30% dip in an year. And it’s a hard pill for Apple to swallow.
Apple has to understand that success in India is way different from success in the West, or even in China, for that matter. There’s a huge lobby of local smartphone vendors here that’s strongly opposed to Apple’s growth. Competition is fierce, and they need to connect with the market at the grassroots. Expanding their CSR activities is just as important as setting up a new manufacturing plant.
In the meanwhile, we hope that the bureaucratic red tape that’s stalling Apple’s growth here eases a bit, giving Apple some room to breathe and grow.
