Apple CEO Loves India But Doesn't See Any Business Here


Bangalore: Well, the CEO of Apple, the company which sells the most number of single branded Smartphones in the world, loves India, but he doesn’t see much business opportunities in the country, supposedly like his predecessor, Steve Jobs.

In the recent conference call with Apple investors and analysts, Tim Cook said, "I love India, but I believe Apple has some higher potential in the intermediate term in some other countries. This doesn't mean we're not putting emphasis in India. We have a business there and it's growing but my own perspective is that in the intermediate term there will be larger opportunities outside (the country)"

Tim Cook was answering a question from an analyst who wanted to know why Apple is not a big success in India. In his reply, Cook added that the distribution channel in India's was also an issue. "The multi-layered distribution (In India) really adds to the cost of getting products to market," he said. But when it comes to India’s neighbor China, Cook was more confident. "We've been very focused on China, because we see it as an enormous opportunity for us," he said.

Considering India, where Apple has a large group of vocal fans, its market share comes in single digits. About fifty percent of the market is controlled by Samsung and the rest is divided among Nokia, Rim and other small players.

Compared with the other countries, the “Contract Model” for Smartphones- where the operators provide the Smartphones to users along with a contract for one or two years at subsidized rates- is virtually nonexistent in India. So here, the manufacturers had to compete with others in a market which has small margins. It may be the reason why Apple, which prefers to own and control its supply chain is not more successful in the country.

Moreover, according to a research from IDC, Android has a 42 percent market share in India compared to the mere 3 percent of iOS devices.   

Are these the reasons for Apple to avoid India or is it still considering the country as a dumping yard?