India has problems, but its allure grows for western investors
Morgan Stanley estimates that India could represent around 15% of Apple’s revenue growth and 20% of its users in the next five years, a forecast that would represent some $40 billion dollars and that is significantly more optimistic than the $6 billion and 5% of the previous five years.
The firm’s perception reflects the feelings I have had for years as a professor at IE University, an institution where the percentage of students from India has continued to grow significantly over the last decade. The world’s most populous country may have a relatively low per capita income, a worrying level of youth unemployment and a huge and constant brain drain, but despite its declining birth rate, its demographics are so vast that the relatively small percentage of people who can consider buying consumer electronics from a brand with undeniably premium prices, opt for an electric bicycle or invest in higher education abroad is enough to justify an interest in that market.
What’s more, for western investors, India is a less controversial business partner than China, and while India has become increasingly authoritarian under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with mounting online censorship, it is far removed from the dystopia that China has become.
