India and other developing countries proved to be a bright spot for Apple yet again, with CEO Tim Cook disclosing on Wednesday that iPhone and iPad sales grew strongly in the country.
According the company, iPad sales in India grew by 45 per cent year-on-year.
This is in sharp contrast to Apple’s Western markets, where sales of the tablet slowed down.
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“iPad sales grew overall in the developing markets with particularly strong year-over-year growth in the Middle-East, where iPad sales were up 64 per cent, in China where they grew 51 percent, and in India, where they were up 45 per cent,” newly appointed CFO Luca Maestri said during the company’s third quarter earnings call.
Apple has, over the last two years, dropped its margins in countries like India, and has enthusiastically adopted local sales tactics like buyback programmes and EMI schemes to great effect.
When it came to the iPhone, the company witnessed growth in BRIC markets, where iPhone sales grew by over 50 per cent.
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Mr. Cook, for the first time, used the term “entry-priced” iPhones—which refers to the older models that are quite popular in India.
“We generated healthy growth in our entry-priced, mid-tier and lead iPhone categories. I’m especially happy about our progress in the BRIC countries, where iPhone sales were up a very strong 55 per cent year-over-year,” he said during the call.
The Apple CEO also defended the ‘trade-in’ or buy-back schemes that are popular in India, by saying that it was “beneficial for our [the company’s] ecosystem.
“…my gut is that the cannibalisation factor is low because you wind up attracting people, who are much more price-sensitive than there. The great thing is, our products command a much higher resale value than others do, and so that leads to a larger trade-in, and from my perspective, that means a larger ecosystem, more people that wind up getting on iPhone…,” he said.