Prabhu RamApple CEO Tim Cook has said that growth in India has bounced back in the April-June quarter, after an underwhelming first six months of the fiscal year which underlined the iconic smartphone maker’s challenges in the South Asian nation in the face of competition from Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and OnePlus, besides South Korea’s Samsung.
The country, along with emerging markets including Brazil and China performed better, recorded a revenue growth of 3% in the three months to June, compared with a fall of 25% in the first two quarters of the fiscal ended March.
But despite the growth, Apple‘s market share in the premium segment (above Rs 30,000) — which is the company’s focus play area — was nearly flat at 20% in the quarter ended June, trailing OnePlus which was no. 1 with a 43% share, replacing previous leader Samsung, which recorded a 22% share.
However, Cook was positive about India, the world’s fastest growing smartphone market where it is set to open its largest retail store — in Mumbai — in early August.
“India bounced back. During the quarter, we returned to growth there. We’re very happy with that,” he said, during the earnings call for the quarter ended June 2019.
Analysts, however, are unsure about the sustainability of the growth trend for Apple, at a time when macro-economic demand seems to be waning just before the festive season. The company though is scaling up local manufacturing through partners Foxconn and Wistron.
“With more high-end locally manufactured iPhones coming to the market soon, it will be interesting to see whether Apple is able to build and sustain the momentum, or fails to shine,” said Prabhu Ram, head of the industry intelligence group at CyberMedia Research.
[Source: Economic Times]
