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As Indians start to buy iPhones again, India is driving the overall growth for Apple’s iPhones, which saw a strong first quarter this fiscal backed by growth from the Indian market.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the 8 per cent increase in iPhone revenues during the quarter was led by strong performance in India along with other markets including Brazil, Mainland China, Thailand and Turkey.
iPhone sales bring in over 60 per cent revenues for Apple, but is fast losing market share in a market dominated by Android phones.
Cheaper iPhones are helping Apple to recoup some of the demand in markets like India where they were on the verge of being wiped out last year.
“iPhone 11 was our top-selling model every week during the December quarter, and the three new models were our most popular iPhones. We had double-digit growth in many developed markets, including the US, the UK, France and Singapore and also grew double-digits in emerging markets, led by strong performances in Brazil, Mainland China, India, Thailand and Turkey,” Cook said during an analyst call.
India also helped Apple boost sales for iPads that generated $6 billion in in worldwide revenues for the company. “For iPad, we saw growth in key emerging markets like Mexico, India, Turkey, Poland, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines and Vietnam,” Cook said. iPhone shipments grew 6 per cent in India during 2019, though on a smaller base after a 43 per cent decline the year before. For the October-December quarter, it grew 41 per cent, more than double the pace of the premium smartphone market where Counterpoint said the expansion was slower than the full year average of 20 per cent.
Apple has been aggressively pushing iPhone XR and iPhone 11 — its low-end smartphones — in India. Sales have surged thanks to aggressive pricing and a good channel strategy. In a rare move from Apple, iPhone 11 was introduced at a lower price point than the 2018’s iPhone XR launch. Apple further reduced iPhone XR prices to capture market at different price points.
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