The company’s rivals have mounted a public campaign against the effort, arguing that such a move would trigger a flood of used electronics while defeating the government’s Make-in-India program to encourage local manufacturing. While Apple CEO Tim Cook has blamed it mostly on the lack of LTE (4G) in India, the high price has also been a factor.
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Mr Cook acknowledged that the global smartphone market is not growing, but says he is “very optimistic” that current issues will pass and Apple “shall grow again”. “More than half the population is 25 years old or younger”.
“We’re going to give you things that you can’t live without that you just don’t know about today”, Cook said. But arguably you can’t get the full value from it. “When asked about India’s contribution, he is said to have claimed that the scenario is changing and India is showing huge market potential”.
To successfully tap into India’s smartphone boom, Apple will need a better retail presence and cheaper versions of the iPhone given the average smartphone in the country sells for less than $150, according to analysts. This is still pending for approval with India’s Finance Ministry, given that they are not sourcing 30% of the iPhones parts from the country. The growth in Apple’s sales in India as “is pretty big”, Cook noted.
The latest Apple financials revealed a 16 percent YoY drop in iPhone sales, and the company seems to be looking at new markets such as India and China to overcome this slowdown.
Apple iPhone 7 will make everyone want to upgrade to the new device, said CEO Tim Cook in an interview. Cook tried to alleviate concerns about Apple’s business in China – something he did a year ago, in an email to Cramer – saying that even though sales declined, he said that was due more to economic pressure and a weak currency in the country than lack of desire for Apple’s products.
Meanwhile, company is also trying to enter the Indian market with its own retail stores.
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As it turns out, this is the lowest first-weekend sales reported for any new iPhone released in the past five years. One thing that’s working in Apple’s favor is Cook’s confidence-his line about giving customers things they can’t live without is reminiscent of how Jobs approached product design and ultimately built and empire.
