To use a phrase popularized by the movie “The Godfather,” maybe it’s time for Tim Cook to go to the mattresses?
The Apple chief executive has been taking it from all sides this year. The latest salvo came late Monday from the government of India, which said “no dice” to Apple’s efforts to sell refurbished iPhones in the country where Apple has just a 2 percent smartphone market share.
For Apple, it’s a setback. The company typically only lowers prices on its phones once a year, and that’s when it releases a new version of the iPhone, usually in the fall. Because of the premium price associated with iPhones, the devices usually cost more than other phones sold in India, and elsewhere. But, by selling refurbished iPhones — which in many cases have been slightly used, but are checked out and repaired, if necessary, by Apple — the company would be able to reach more consumers in India with iPhones at lower prices than new models.
One of the reasons Apple’s refurbished iPhone efforts were shot down was because the Indian government is supporting efforts to boost the business of local phone makers. So, India is going against Apple, in a way.
Now, for those keeping score at home, add that to what else Cook and Apple have dealt with in barely four months of this year…
- Apple has been in court with the FBI over its refusal to help the nation’s top law-enforcement agency unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.
- The company reported quarterly results that included sales dropping on a year-over-year basis for the first time in 13 years. IPhone sales also posted their first such annual decline, and Apple’s sales in both the U.S. and China retreated.
- Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn last week said he sold off all of his Apple stock, in large part because of concerns about the company’s business in China. Icahn owned almost 46 million Apple shares at the end of 2015.
- Apple’s stock price has fallen more than 9 percent this year and is down 26 percent over the last 52 weeks.
While Apple shares were up on Tuesday, that gain came after eight straight days of stock market losses. For Cook, what else is there to do except…go on TV to plead his case.
Cook went on the CNBC program “Mad Money” late Monday to tell host Jim Cramer that Apple is in no danger of fading away. Cook tried to alleviate concerns about Apple’s business in China — something he did last year, in an email to Cramer — saying that even though sales declined, he said that was due more to economic pressure and a weak currency in the country than lack of desire for Apple’s products.
Cook reiterated that Apple is looking to acquire company’s with innovative technologies that it can add to its product line. When Apple reported its quarterly results on April 26, Cook stressed that acquisitions are likely to play a bigger role in Apple’s strategy that in the past.
Additionally, Cook said that he believes the Apple Watch in on a path toward success over the long term, and that with regards to the iPhone, Apple will soon “give you things you can’t live without.” The so-called iPhone 7 is expected to be released later this year.
Even though its most recent quarter was disappointing by Wall Street’s expectations, the results would have been the envy of about 99.9 percent of other companies in the world. Yes, iPhone sales were down, but Apple still sold 51.2 million of the things between January and the end of March. And while Apple’s sales declined, the company also sold $50.6 billion worth of its stuff during the first quarter of the year. For comparison, Apple’s sales were more than double the $22.1 billion Microsoft reported during the same period.
Yet what else could Cook say? “No Jim, I think this iPhone thing has run its course! Since there’s so much nostalgia for the 90s right now, we’re bringing back the Newton! Whaddaya think?”
No one wants that. But in the meantime, if the start of this year is any indication of where things are going for Apple, the company should probably brace itself for what could go down at its annual developers conference in less than six weeks.
Cook might want to keep those mattresses handy.
Photo: Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the iPhone 6s during an Apple media event in San Francisco in September 2015. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)
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