Apple‘s India revenues grew by strong double digits in the March quarter (Q2-FY17), chief executive Tim Cook said during the company’s earnings conference call yesterday.
Apple had posted sales of Rs 9,997 crore ($1.5 billion) in the fiscal year upto March 2016, a 54 percent growth from the year before. The company however had slashed its revenue target to $2 billion from $3 billion for its fiscal year (October 2016-September 2017) due to PM Modi’s note ban move.
Cook said they’ve been investing in India market for quite a bit, particularly now that the 4G infrastructure is improving in the market, that presents “a huge opportunity for Apple” considering the demographics of the country.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio had launched its 4G service in September last year, offering free 4G data and voice calls to customers. The service had attracted over 100 million subscribers in just five months, forcing rivals like Airtel and Vodafone to also launch similar offerings to retain its subscribers.
In October last year, Reliance Jio had also partnered Apple to offer a year’s worth of complementary Jio digital services to iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus or iPhone SE smartphones.
Cook noted that they are underpenetrated in the India market as of now but their growth rates have been good so far.
By Baishakhi Dutta
