Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Friday’s company earnings conference call that Apple will double its operations in India in the 2021 fiscal year. The executive also said that nearly one-third of the company’s revenue this fiscal year came from emerging markets. Despite increasing progress in India, the Cupertino company failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations due to COVID-19 and its consequences in key markets, resulting in supply constraints.

Apple said its revenue for the fourth quarter ended September 25 was US$83.4 billion (approximately Rs 6,238 billion). Speaking to investors on the earnings conference call, 60-year-old Cook said: “We are optimistic about the future, especially when we see strong demand for our new products.” The executive did not disclose the factors that helped Apple achieve significant growth in India.

However, he did emphasize that the iPhone maker “has achieved double-digit growth in every region and set a September quarterly record in both developed and emerging markets.” It is worth noting that this is not the first time Cook has spoken vaguely about Apple’s growth in India and expressed optimism about further success in emerging markets. In January, he also stated that the company’s business in India had doubled in the previous quarter.

He also informed that a “quarterly record” was achieved in the Indian market in October last year. Just before the country’s holiday season, Apple launched the iPhone 13 series to help reposition the iPhone 12 model. The repositioning also caused the price of the old iPhone to fall. Nevertheless, some market experts believe that Apple’s update is not the main reason for its success in the country. Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst of market insight company TechArc, said: “What will definitely change is the growth of all products in the luxury goods sector.” He added that even in the Indian smartphone market, sales in the luxury segment (Rs 50,000 and above as defined by TechArc) doubled in one year.

He said this is because the luxury equipment and product segments and even lower segments are not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in many ways. The analyst also cited market insight to emphasize that Apple’s iPhone sales in India exceeded 3 million units last year alone, and it is expected to exceed 4 million units this year.

News Source : Gadgets 360