Apple India sees iPhone boost to bottom line
TUAW has recently reported several times about Apple's efforts to tap the huge market for iPhones in India. Now the Times of India is reporting that Apple's net profit for the India business unit has skyrocketed 431 percent year over year.
As the newspaper explains, these figures do not take into account Apple's recent agressive marketing strategies, and that it may be that the company became aware of the vast potential for sales in India during two strong years in 2011-12. Now the company is "chasing volumes and looking at the numbers game," according to Manasi Yadav of IDC.
Market research firm Canalys notes that iPhone shipments to India have risen threefold in just six months. At the beginning of that period back in September 2012, Apple began advertising the iPhone extensively on the Indian subcontinent and appointed two retail distributors. Just a few weeks ago, the company started a buy-back scheme that resulted in a 300 percent increase in sales in just one week.
Canalys analyst Jessica Kwee was quoted as saying that "Apple India should generate US$1 billion sales between April 2013 and March 2014," a number that should cheer the hearts of Apple executives wondering why the company's share price has plummeted to $400 today.
