Following the launch of the new iPhone yesterday evening, Marco Veremis , CEO and founder of Upstream, considers the strength of the iPhone’s newest features within the emerging markets, a difficult sector which will be a vital one for Apple to crack over the coming years.
Apple’s launch event last night showcased great innovation, confirming the company is still at the forefront of premium, desirable technology, and staying ahead of consumer trends in Western markets.
Apple Pay has the potential to be a great accelerator for mobile payments, and while no one was expecting today’s announcement to touch on emerging markets, there is an opportunity to look one step further and see how Apple’s potentially revolutionary approach could work in key growth markets.
The potential for Apple Pay in the US and the West is huge, and could prove promising for emerging markets as well. Our research with Ovum found that 74% of consumers in China want to spend money with Apple, and the new roster of products will only increase that demand.
Our research found that consumers in emerging markets most value functionality in a handset (ahead of brand image), a preference which home-grown mobile competitors like Xiaomi and Spice count on to build a brand following. But there are obvious limitations in some markets where credit card penetration is low. We found that the preferred way to purchase content for nearly half of Nigerian consumers is through their mobile operator, by ‘pay as you go’ methods.
In the same way Apple is looking to seismically shift mobile payments through its credit card database, they could make a similarly powerful change in emerging markets by teaming up with local operators, instead relying on credit cards only.”
By Marco Veremis
CEO and founder
Upstream