Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple is partnering with Reliance Jio, which is offering free usage of data for a year to purchasers of new iPhones, to ensure "great iPhone performance" on their network.
Citing Reliance Jio's roll-out of 4G coverage in India, Cook said his company "couldn't be more excited" about the enormous investments being made in high-speed telecom networks, even as he conceded that Apple’s smartphone has "not done as well" in the country.
Cook said in the company's fourth quarter earnings call on Tuesday:
Looking ahead, we’re seeing some very exciting developments in India. Reliance Jio is rolling out a first of its kind all-IP network in India with 4G coverage in 18,000 cities and 2,00,000 villages across the country.
Cook said Apple is partnering with Reliance Jio, which is offering a free year of service to purchasers of new iPhones, to ensure "great iPhone performance" on their network.
Apple posted a decline in annual sales and profit in its fourth quarter ended 24 September 2016, for the first time in 15 years.
It posted quarterly revenue of $46.9 billion and quarterly net income of $9 billion compared to revenue of $51.5 billion and net income of $11.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Apple sold 45.5 million iPhones in the quarter, a five percent decline from the 48 million units it had sold in the same quarter a year ago.
"Our iPhone sales in India were up over 50 percent in fiscal 2016 compared to the prior year, and we believe we're just beginning to scratch the surface of this large and growing market opportunity," Cook said.
He, however, noted that Apple's smartphone has "not done as well" in India in general and one of the key reasons for that is the "(high-speed telecom network) infrastructure hasn't been there."
But this year or this year and next year, there are enormous investments going in on 4G and we couldn’t be more excited about that because it really takes a great network working with iPhone to produce that great experience for people.Tim Cook, Apple CEO
"And so I see a lot of the factors moving in the right direction there," Cook said.
Analysts, however, don’t think that free data is enough to lure customers to buy the high-priced iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.
People in India refrain from buying an iPhone because of its pricing, not unavailability of a 4G network, Tarun Pathak, Senior Analyst with Counterpoint Research told Mashable India. He added that an average person buying an iPhone wouldn’t care much about data plans.
In fact, the hike in sales that Apple has experienced in India is because of a "low-cost" iPhone and not the much more expensive new ones which aren’t faring well, he added.
The Apple chief also sounded optimistic on the efforts being made by the Narendra Modi-led government to create jobs and develop infrastructure.
When asked whether India could in future be as big of an opportunity as China for Apple, Cook said it is important to look not only at per capita income in India but also the number of people that are or will move into the middle class over the next decade. He also emphasised that India's "very, very young population" holds tremendous advantages.
"I think it will take longer for the GDP to rival the population growth, but that's not critical for us to have a great success there," he said.
Cook said what is important for Apple in India is that there are going to be a lot of people in the middle class who will "really want a smartphone, and I think we can compete well for some percentage of those".
The latest edition of the iPhone was launched in India on 7 October.
(With inputs from PTI, Mashable and Reuters.)
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