When Apple Inc surprised investors this week with a rise in iPhone sales despite a slump in the global smartphone market, Chief Executive Tim Cook credited emerging markets like India where the company is luring away Android phone users.
Apple said it set sales records in several countries across South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. "There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it's great to be there," Cook said on the conference call. Cook said he saw opportunities for Apple in India in services but said that average revenue per user - a metric known as ARPU in the subscription business - would take time to catch up to Apple's other markets.Part of the reason that Apple has been able to gain market share in both emerging and developed markets is the emergence of a booming market for used iPhones.