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iPhone sales grew by over 50% on-year in the fiscal ended September 2016 in India, which has huge headroom for growth and a large market opportunity, said Apple's CEO Tim Cook, while reiterating its partnership with Reliance Jio that started earlier this month.
The top boss of the Cupertino-based smartphone maker said it was ‘excited’ about investments going towards building 4G networks in India, which would raise the proliferation of iPhones in the country that can be as big as China for deriving next level of growth.
“Our iPhone sales in India were up over 50% in fiscal 2016 compared to the prior year, and we believe we're just beginning to scratch the surface of this large and growing market opportunity,” Cook said during the earnings call of the iPhone and iPad maker’s fourth quarter and financial year ending September 2016.
“Reliance Jio is rolling out a first of its kind all-IP network in India with 4G coverage in 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages across the country. They're offering a free year of service to purchasers of new iPhones and we're partnering with them to ensure great iPhone performance on their network,” he added.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio will offer free voice calls, 20GB data and unlimited SMS for one year, worth Rs 18,000, to all new iPhone users on its network to people who buy any iPhone device from Reliance Retail or Apple store and use Jio connection.
Apple’s market share in India in the overall smartphone segment is less than 2% as of September, and it trailed No 1 Samsung in the premium segment as well. Strong cellular networks are important to iPhone's success as several iPhone features require internet connectivity and access to high speed data, which a number of telecom companies including Jio are deploying in India.
With government investments creating technical infrastructure for taking internet to the masses, the country would enable consumer access to technology like iPhone to all, a key development for Apple which would rely more on India’s teeming young population at a time when developed markets including China face slowdown.
“I think it's clear that the population of India will exceed China sometime in probably the next decade or so, maybe less than that. I think it will take longer for the GDP to rival it, but that's not critical for us to have a great success there,” Cook said.
The Apple head added that it was important to look not only at per capita income in India, but also look at the number of people that are or will move into the middle class sort of over the next decade, besides the age of the population - almost 50% of which is under 25.
“The truth is, there's going to be a lot of people there and a lot of people in the middle class that will really want a smartphone, and I think we can compete well for some percentage of those. And given our starting point, even though we've been growing a lot, there is a lot of headroom there in our mind, and so we are working very hard to realize that opportunity,” he added.
Cook said that though smartphone did not do too well in India in general, primarily due to lack of infrastructure.
“But this year or this year and next year, there are enormous investments going in on 4G and we couldn't be more excited about that because it really takes a great network working with iPhone to produce that great experience for people. And so I see a lot of the factors moving in the right direction there,” he added.
"I also think the government is much more focused on the infrastructure and on creating jobs, which is fantastic, because you really need the kind of infrastructure and the technology to do that," he added.
iPhones sales in India up by 50% for fiscal ending Sept, 2016, Cook highlights Jio tie-up - ET Telecom
The top boss of the Cupertino-based smartphone maker said it was ‘excited’ about investments going towards building 4G networks in India, which would raise the proliferation of iPhones in the country that can be as big as China for deriving next level of growth.
“Our iPhone sales in India were up over 50% in fiscal 2016 compared to the prior year, and we believe we're just beginning to scratch the surface of this large and growing market opportunity,” Cook said during the earnings call of the iPhone and iPad maker’s fourth quarter and financial year ending September 2016.
“Reliance Jio is rolling out a first of its kind all-IP network in India with 4G coverage in 18,000 cities and 200,000 villages across the country. They're offering a free year of service to purchasers of new iPhones and we're partnering with them to ensure great iPhone performance on their network,” he added.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio will offer free voice calls, 20GB data and unlimited SMS for one year, worth Rs 18,000, to all new iPhone users on its network to people who buy any iPhone device from Reliance Retail or Apple store and use Jio connection.
Apple’s market share in India in the overall smartphone segment is less than 2% as of September, and it trailed No 1 Samsung in the premium segment as well. Strong cellular networks are important to iPhone's success as several iPhone features require internet connectivity and access to high speed data, which a number of telecom companies including Jio are deploying in India.
With government investments creating technical infrastructure for taking internet to the masses, the country would enable consumer access to technology like iPhone to all, a key development for Apple which would rely more on India’s teeming young population at a time when developed markets including China face slowdown.
“I think it's clear that the population of India will exceed China sometime in probably the next decade or so, maybe less than that. I think it will take longer for the GDP to rival it, but that's not critical for us to have a great success there,” Cook said.
The Apple head added that it was important to look not only at per capita income in India, but also look at the number of people that are or will move into the middle class sort of over the next decade, besides the age of the population - almost 50% of which is under 25.
“The truth is, there's going to be a lot of people there and a lot of people in the middle class that will really want a smartphone, and I think we can compete well for some percentage of those. And given our starting point, even though we've been growing a lot, there is a lot of headroom there in our mind, and so we are working very hard to realize that opportunity,” he added.
Cook said that though smartphone did not do too well in India in general, primarily due to lack of infrastructure.
“But this year or this year and next year, there are enormous investments going in on 4G and we couldn't be more excited about that because it really takes a great network working with iPhone to produce that great experience for people. And so I see a lot of the factors moving in the right direction there,” he added.
"I also think the government is much more focused on the infrastructure and on creating jobs, which is fantastic, because you really need the kind of infrastructure and the technology to do that," he added.
iPhones sales in India up by 50% for fiscal ending Sept, 2016, Cook highlights Jio tie-up - ET Telecom