Apple growth slips to record low in India, but did Tim Cook see it coming? Here’s what he had said

Apple has registered its slowest growth in India in the last 6 years. Here's what CEO Tim Cook had said earlier, that could mean he saw it coming.

Earlier in 2017, Tim Cook had said that Apple was in discussions regarding several things in India. (Reuters)

Technology giant Apple has registered the slowest growth in India in the last 6 years, based on Registrar of Companies data. Apple posted a 17 percent growth, having earned Rs 11,618.7 crores in revenue in last year compared to Rs 9,937 crores earned the year before. This has also given rise to speculation that Apple’s plummeting sales across the year may also be the result of demonetisation. Apple CEO Tim Cook, in February this year, had said that the effects of demonetisation were still lasting. Cook had said, that the decision of demonetising high-value currency in India created “huge economic pressure in the last quarter”.
In February, Cook had said that, though he was happy about the note ban, the demonetisation move “is still having an overhang’. Nevertheless, Cook had also praised the decision and said that it is a ‘great move’. According to The Economic Times, after the demonetisation move, people had rushed to buy the iPhones and MacBooks for a few weeks, but later the sales started to get affected. According to a Counterpoint Research report, the Cupertino giant had sold 2.9 million units in India this year against 2.2 million units in 2016. While the company did not face losses, the growth has been quite slow. One of the major reasons could be the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus launch. While Apple launched new smartphones in the market, they were not much of an improvement over the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Additionally, the new iPhone X was launched at a much higher price in India that went up to Rs 1,02,000.
Earlier this year, Tim Cook, in the first quarter earnings call with analysts and journalists, had said that the company was in discussions regarding several things in the country, including retail stores as well. In that event, Apple showcased its optimism about its growth in the country. The company had claimed that even the Macs and iPads have been doing well in the country. But now, apart from the demonetisation move, sales have also clearly been affected due to poor interest in the new iPhone models.
Apple had launched the new iPhones in September this year. As reported earlier, India is one of the costliest places to buy the devices as comparatively, they are available at much lower prices in several other countries. While the iPhone 8 series mobiles are still understandable, the price of the iPhone X (Rs 89,000 and Rs 1,02,000) is ridiculously high. It remains to be seen whether demonetisation was the real reason for the plummeting sales or if it was disappointed Apple fans. As of now, the company has not made any comment on the result.