South Asia and Latin America are the new trump cards for tech giant Apple, as it looks to boost its growth amid an economic slowdown in China and the United States.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is hoping that these markets will provide more opportunities due to their youthful population and relatively low iPhone penetration.
Apple, which recorded sales of over $51 billion in its most recent quarter, saw record sales in South Asia and Latin America. On the other hand, sales fell in the Americas, Japan and China, contributing to an overall decline of about 3 percent.
“We’re putting efforts in a number of these markets and really see, particularly given our low share and the dynamics of the demographics, a great opportunity for us in those markets,” Cook said in his latest conference call.
India is particularly the focus of Apple. Cook said that India is at a tipping point and expected the market to grow.
“There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it’s great to be there,” Cook said on the conference call.
The company recently opened its first two retail stores in India — in Mumbai and Delhi.
According to the research firm Counterpoint, Apple was the second biggest revenue generating brand in India in 2022, second only to South Korea’s Samsung.
The boom in used iPhone market is helping the US tech giant to enter more emerging economies like India. Sales of refurbished iPhones rose 16 percent globally in 2022. India, in particular, led the growth in iPhone reselling with a 19 percent jump in sales.
‘Mass layoffs a last resort’
Meanwhile, Apple employees can breathe a sigh of relief. Cook has assured that layoffs will be the last resort for the company.
“I view that as a last resort and, so, mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment,” he told CNBC in an interview.
Cook added that the company is actually focusing on cutting costs and slowing down the pace of hiring.
While Apple did let go of some employees in April this year, it has avoided announcing any major layoffs, This is because the most-valuable company in the world avoided aggressive hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic.
(With agency inputs)
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