Apple sees 'huge opportunity' in Brazil

OneMoreThing... · Jan 26, 2012

Apple sees 'huge opportunity' in Brazil

Apple's next emerging market might not be in Asia, but in South America. During the company's recent earnings conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook identified Brazil as one of Apple's future growth areas. "I think there's a huge opportunity for us there, and we've more than begun to go deeper into Brazil," Cook said. "But I don't want to signal that that means that Apple retail will be there, because I don't envision that occurring in the near term."

As noted by GigaOm, Brazil is an extremely populous country with over 200 million people, and its economy is the best in all of South America. Per capita income in Brazil isn't great compared to the US, but it compares quite favorably against China, which has been Apple's biggest international success story thus far.

One potential sticking point exists for increasing Apple's Brazilian sales, however. Currently, Brazilians pay some of the highest prices in the world for Apple gear. At launch, an unsubsidized 16 GB iPhone 4S cost the equivalent of more than US$1,400 in Brazil, compared to $849 for a 64 GB model in the US. Those breathtakingly high prices may be due to a number of factors, including Brazil's high import duties, but if Apple is going to attempt to get the kind of traction in Brazil it's seen in China, those prices are going to have to drop significantly.

Apple sees 'huge opportunity' in Brazil originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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louishen · Jan 26, 2012

Blimey, what are the im import duties for Brazil, and are they some sort of retaliation for farm subsidies in the USA and Europe.

cheo3011 · Jan 29, 2012

That's all great for Apple and Mr. Cook. But there is also a huge opportunity in Puerto Rico and still we don't have an Apple Store here. Even if Mr. Cook doesn't want to make one here, at least let the folks in Puerto Rico purchase online! If we can have a Victoria's Secret store down here (the first in all this hemisphere), why can't we have an Apple Store. We're american citizens by birth right, but are treated like Puerto Rico didn't exist on the map. It's ridiculous!

_Stormin · Jan 29, 2012

I have to point out that the lack of an Apple Store is in no way an American right...

Secondly, the first Victoria Secret store in your hemisphere was in Palo Alto, because it was the first Victoria Secret store ever...

vansmith · Jan 29, 2012

This isn't surprising in the least. Brazil has the 7th largest economy in the world and a population of 190+ million people. Sure, the economy isn't the greatest per capita but if Apple can succeed in China, it can succeed in Brazil.

cheo3011 said:
That's all great for Apple and Mr. Cook. But there is also a huge opportunity in Puerto Rico and still we don't have an Apple Store here. Even if Mr. Cook doesn't want to make one here, at least let the folks in Puerto Rico purchase online! If we can have a Victoria's Secret store down here (the first in all this hemisphere), why can't we have an Apple Store. We're american citizens by birth right, but are treated like Puerto Rico didn't exist on the map. It's ridiculous!

Brazil has a much greater purchasing power than Puerto Rico will ever have not to mention that it has a population nearly 52 times the size. Simply put, Apple is a business and this makes business sense. As a business, it has to have priorities and I'm sure most (if not all) businesses would rather develop traction in Brazil.

Apple sees 'huge opportunity' in Brazil

OneMoreThing...

louishen

cheo3011

_Stormin

vansmith

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