Apple takes emerging markets seriously. As the tech giant seeks to build foundations from which to achieve future growth, it is taking position in those markets.
Just look at the rollout.
Since 2019 — even during COVID — Apple has continued to expand the number of stores it has in place across more established markets, while opening for business in global markets including India, Vietnam, South Korea, UAE, Türkiye, Thailand, and Mexico.
Chasing growth, Apple has global ambitions and is doing its level best to establish a foothold in every territory that may deliver economic buoyancy as traditional markets face steep decline.
That’s a lesson for every enterprise, of course, in that the myriad of interlinked challenges we face inevitably tear strips from traditional models of continued growth. We need to make more from less, in every sense — Apple’s work to build circular manufacturing systems points to another facet of this.
With this as the current environment, it must then be only a matter of time before Apple takes a position in Africa.
Apple’s bird’s-eye view
We know Apple is taking a high-level interest in such matters.
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with USAID administrator Samantha Power just the other day to discuss cooperation in support of Ukraine and the potential to support development in other emerging democracies.
“Administrator Power and Cook also discussed the potential for partnerships in support of addressing shared development challenges, such as support for burgeoning democracies, enhancing educational opportunities, capacity building for governments, and trade integration,” a USAID press release claimed.
While much of Africa remains politically fractured, some nations are primed for business.
The continent offers huge potential for next-generation technology and communication services; innovative connected manufacturing and agricultural systems; resource and water management services; and, at the consumer level, payment and banking services.
Africa’s new digital opportunity
Not only this, but Africa also now accounts for 70% of the world’s $1 trillion mobile money value, with over 600 million mobile wallets used across the region. In Kenya, 84% of internet users were using mobile payments in 2021, according to the World Economic Forum. In Nigeria that figure was 60%, with South Africa’s adoption in third place at 21%.
It is interesting to note that both Kenya (23%) and Nigeria (34%) have yet to get internet connectivity to the majority of the population, while in South Africa, connectivity has reached 68%.
The connectivity challenge across much of the region can be summed up by a lack of legacy fixed-line infrastructure. 5G deployment is relatively slow, though the GSMA estimates that some of the biggest African economies (including Kenya and Nigeria) will gain access to 5G networks by 2025.
Satellite may well be part of the answer, and that is certainly what existing incumbents in the satellite connectivity space are hoping for.
This is also what smartphone manufacturers appear to be preparing for as Apple, Samsung, and others build devices that make use of satellite. Apple’s Emergency SOS by Satellite feature is almost certainly a precursor to a global iMessaging service, I think, with voice calls via satellite likely to become normalized with the dawn of 6G toward the end of the current decade.
With all this in mind, the impetus and direction of travel should offer up a salutatory lesson to any enterprise seeking something like growth in our challenging, fast-changing business environment. Apple is struggling with the same challenges, and also seeks growth.
What happens next?
Apple will open its “first verified Apple store in an African country by 2026,” predicts CCS Insight.
“Following the opening of its first Indian store in April 2023, Apple seeks to tap into growing circular economies in developing countries. Its pioneering African outlet focuses on refurbished smartphones, tempting consumers into its lucrative services ecosystem with certified products,” the analyst firm said in research published today.
I agree.
I think Apple will begin to roll out its own-branded retail stores at strategic locations across Africa, most likely in Egypt, Nigeria, and potentially also in Kenya and South Africa. Apple allegedly acquired space for a store in Egypt way back in 2021, though that claim was never confirmed. In South Africa, it already has a presence via authorized reseller iStore South Africa. Elsewhere, a network of resellers exists, most offering Apple-style retail experiences.
While widening its business interests in African nations will impose fresh challenges and expose strategic barriers, not least around political instability across the continent, the potential to harvest growth will be too tempting to ignore.
After all, with mobile wallets already seeing major use and investments in digital infrastructure already taking place, tech firms can see a real opportunity to contribute economic benefits now to draw economic benefits later from within these markets.
Services strategy support
The company already has toes in African waters.
The App Store came to eight African nations in 2020. It is now available in 40, including the bigger economies. Customers in Nigeria and Kenya get access to Apple Music and iTunes (books, TV, music) purchases, while in South Africa Apple offers its full stack, including Apple Arcade, Apple Music/Music Classical, TV+ and Apple One.
It may be interesting to note that the Apple One is also available in Gambia, Niger, Guinea-Bisseau, Botswana, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Uganda, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Ghana.
This hints to the quiet way in which Apple is laying local foundations and the extent to which it is already seeking growth in high-margin Apple services as it explores market potential. These offerings should give the company insight into how ripe individual nations have become.
It is also interesting that Apple is making big investments in Africa’s music scene.
The company’s music ‘people’ put a lot of energy behind promoting fast-rising African artist Burna Boy, while the Apple-owned Platoon service has become a major player on Africa’s music scene. That kind of cultural connection is incredibly valuable for any company seeking to build relationships with local consumers, and of course its services arm is also the ultimate high-margin revenue tap for the company.
As that tap flows, watch what happens. I see it this way: in environments (such as Africa) in which second-user devices dominate, offering services people want that can be accessed via those devices raises revenue, builds B2C contact, and helps finance additional business expansion in critical markets.
This make sense, given that not every benefit when entering new markets needs to be immediate. Like fine wines, many such markets ripen over time. The work Apple began in India nearly a decade ago is only now delivering substantial gains.
Cook: “There’s still a lot of countries … we would like to go into”
Cook discussed retail during the company’s Q3 earnings call earlier this year.
At that time, he said: “There’s still a lot of countries out there that don’t have Apple stores that we would like to go into. We continue to see it as a key part of how we go to market and love the experience that we can provide customers there.”
Will Apple go to Africa? Of course. It is already there.
Perhaps your business needs to plan to go there too.
Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
Copyright © 2023 IDG Communications, Inc.
