Apple’s international presence is gaining traction and revenues are increasing in both Japan and Asia-Pacific because of the iPhone, the company said today as part of its first-quarter financial results.
While the company doesn’t typically breakdown iPhone sales by country, Apple’s COO Tim Cook said he would make an exception for China. He said that since the iPhone went on sale there in late October/early November, they’ve sold about 200,000 units through their partner China Unicom. The number seems fairly impressive given that only 5,000 phones were sold during opening weekend and they cost around $1,000 each. Not to mention that 1.5 million iPhones are estimated to have already been sold on China’s gray market.
Cook said sales will improve as they increase the number of places where the iPhone can be sold. But they aren’t in a rush to add more locations. “We are focused on the quality of the point of sales experience for the customer. We would prefer to move slow because we are building the brand for the long-term and we are very much focused on the long-term in that market because we think there is significant potential there.” Cook declined to forecast sales, or whether they would partner with more carriers in the country. “We are happy working with China Unicom and Iām thrilled we are underway and have two and a half months of experience under my belt,” he said.
iPhone sales are also starting to ramp up in Japan and Asia-Pacific. In Apple’s first quarter ended Dec. 26, it said that it launched the iPhone with 17 new carriers, including China Telecom and KT in South Korea. The company said it is seeing rapid growth in these markets despite critics who wondered if the iPhone would perform well where 3G networks and data access had been around for a long time.
In Japan, Apple’s net sales increased $285 million or 57 percent in Q1, mostly due to increasing iPhone revenues. Cook said iPhone sales are up 400 percent year-over-year in Japan. It “has been a runaway hit.” The iPhone was up over 400% year-over-year during the quarter. Likewise, Apple’s net sales in Asia Pacific increased 142 percent in Q1 compared to the year-ago period, mostly because of the iPhone and increased carrier distribution. Cook said iPhone sales were up 500 percent in Asia Pacific. Overall, the company sold 8.7 million iPhones, which broke a company quarterly record, but fell shy of analysts’ steep expectations of selling 9 million devices.
Our Q1 Coverage. | Release. | Webcast. Transcript (via SeekingAlpha).
Related