“Apple’s quarterly results smashed Wall Street expectations with record iPhone sales in the holiday season and a 70 percent rise in China, powering the company to the largest profit in corporate history,” Adam Jourdan reports for Reuters. “Its result in China, as well as other emerging markets such as Brazil, marks a riposte to critics who questioned the firm’s strategy a year ago not to launch a cheaper phone to lure cost-conscious buyers from Xiaomi and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.”
“Apple plans to roll out around 20 new China stores by 2016, likely located in glitzy locations and rubbing shoulders with outlets for luxury brands such as Chanel and Hermes International SCA,” Jourdan reports. “For Apple, brick-and-mortar stores help it maintain a premium image, from the product to in-store service and even packaging, allowing the firm to charge far higher prices than rivals – vital to its enviable profit margins.”
“Apple’s quarterly leap may be hard to replicate, with the launch of large-screen iPhones and a tie-up with telecoms operator China Mobile Ltd in late 2013 lifting last year’s numbers,” Jourdan reports. “‘People had been waiting for large-screen iPhones for a long time. The demand had piled up and Apple hadn’t been able to meet it,’ said Nicole Peng, research director for Canalys in China. Canalys data showed Apple outsold all other smartphone makers in China by units shipped in October-December 2014, making it the country’s top seller for the first time.”
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