Tech Telecom

On the back of its first annual revenue decline in 15 years, Apple is now looking at India – one of its fastest-growing markets – for future growth. iPhone sales grew by over 50% on-year in the fiscal ended September 2016 in India.

The Cupertino-based smartphone maker 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.

Talking about its partnership with Reliance Jio in India, and the potential of the Jio iPhone Offer, Cook said, “Looking ahead, we’re seeing some very exciting developments in India. 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.”

“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.

“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.

Over the past year, India has been on Apple’s priority list and the company is working to bring up Apple stores in India. While iPhone 5s, the cheapest iPhone available in India, remains popular in the Indian market, the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were warmly received as well.

“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.

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