India presents a “really great opportunity” for Apple but slow networks and an informal retail structure in the country is preventing the tech giant from realising its full potential, said its CEO Tim
India presents a “really great opportunity” for Apple but slow networks and an informal retail structure in the country is preventing the tech giant from realising its full potential, said its CEO Tim Cook as the company’s revenues plunged for the first time in 13 years.
Mr Cook said while India is the third-larg-est smartphone market in the world, it is dominated by “low-end” smartphones primarily because of the network and the economics due to which “the market potential has not been as great there.”
Mr Cook, addressing analysts in a conference call, said “I view India as where China was maybe seven to ten years ago from that point of view, and I think there’s a really great opportunity there,” he said.
While sales for Apple in China, its second-largest market after the United States, fell 11 per cent, in India iPhone sales were up 56 per cent from a year ago.
The Apple CEO said that faster networks will “unleash the power and capability” of the iPhone in a manner that older networks like the 2.5G or even some 3G networks, would not do.
