Apple’s current iPhone trajectory doesn’t appear to need tweaking. The company is coming off a record-smashing holiday quarter for its smartphone, selling 74.5 million iPhone units, up from the 51 million units moved during the year-ago quarter.
The iPhone success lead to $18 billion in quarterly revenue.
Still, Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t ready to completely write off the possibility of a lower-cost iPhone.
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference, Cook said that Apple wants to give customers a good value, according to iMore’s transcript of the talk.
If Apple can develop something that’s “really great” that costs less than the iPhone it’s currently offering, then Cook says Apple will do it.
But in the wake of Apple’s growth in China, which came without a low-cost iPhone in the company’s portfolio, Cook sounds more confident that Apple’s current iPhone pricing models can work in any market.
Cook said that Apple got good at blocking out the noise from people suggesting Apple needed a lower cost phone to gain traction in China and said that it’s a “bunch of bull” to think that people in China won’t “pay for a great product.”
Cook said that five years ago, Apple had less than $1 billion in revenue coming from China and that the last year saw the company record $38 billion, according to iMore’s transcript.
He gave much of the credit for Apple’s success in China to increasing retail presence, saying the company plans to have 40 flagship stores in China by mid-year, up from the 19 it has now. Cook also pointed to partnerships with China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom as well as China-based service providers.
It’s hard to argue with Cook’s and Apple’s business plan. Apple just exceeded $700 billion in market value, making it the first U.S. company ever to do so.
Aside from Apple’s hugely profitable hardware business, Cook also said new services are making up a large part of Apple’s success. Specifically, he offered an update on the Apple Pay rollout, saying he was pleasantly surprised how the holiday season didn’t seem to put off too many retailers from adopting the new mobile payment platform.
Cook said Apple now has 2,000 banks and credit unions up and running with Apple Pay, covering 90 percent of the market, according to iMore’s transcript.
Filed Under: Carriers, Devices
