- Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said that due to the strong response of its company-owned online store in the region, the iPhone manufacturer has set a new September quarter sales record in India.
On Friday, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said that due to the strong response of its company-owned online store in the region, the iPhone manufacturer has set a new September quarter sales record in India.
In its July-September earnings call, Cook said: “Geographically, in the Americas, Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific, we set September quarter records.” We have also set a September quarter record in India, thanks in part to a very strong welcome to the launch of our online store in the country this quarter.
Although Cook did not elaborate further, industry executives said strong iPhone sales, especially of the iPhone SE and 11 series, iPads and Mac computers, further fueled sales in India as consumers preferred to buy Apple devices as India continues to work and educate from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In late September, Apple launched the Apple online store in India, where all its items were sold and fulfilled to customers, but mostly at higher prices than what they are available on Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart e-commerce markets. Apple needs to preserve price parity with other e-commerce sites to gain share with its online store, analysts said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has improved sales of online platforms in India for electronic goods, including smartphones. E-commerce contribution for smartphones is up from 29 percent to 32 percent in June-August this year over last year, according to market researcher and sales tracker GfK India, while the contribution for premium smartphones priced above Rs 30,000 is up from 38 percent to 43 percent
As of today, Apple’s latest iPhones, iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, will go on sale in India and the company has already earned the highest pre-orders ever on the country’s two versions, industry executives said.
Apple has surpassed China’s OnePlus as the leader in the premium smartphone segment or those priced above Rs 30,000 even before its flagship iPhone 12 series launch, as per Hong Kong-based smartphone shipment tracker Counterpoint Analysis. This is powered by high demand for its 2020 and iPhone 11 iPhone SE. The investigator said that in the October-December quarter, the upcoming flagship iPhone 12 would further boost Apple’s position.
