As Chinese players like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo claw away more ground in the world’s smartphone market, Apple is finding growth in one country in particular: India.

On Monday, details emerged in a Bloomberg report that the Cupertino giant’s subcontinent strategy is starting to pay off.

Planting Seeds

Industry reports published this week by market research firms Counterpoint and IDC bring both good news and bad news for Apple. The good: Global smartphone shipments increased to 45.2 million units in the second quarter, per IDC, letting Apple maintain its longtime No. 2 position behind Samsung (though Apple’s roughly 1.5% year-over-year growth rate lagged behind the roughly 6% industry-wide growth rate estimated by both research firms). The bad: Its global market share is starting to slip, from around 16.6% in the second-quarter last year to 15.8% this year. Meanwhile, Xiaomi (14.8%) and Vivo (9.1%) both saw market share increases of over 1%.

As the global market becomes increasingly competitive, Apple has turned toward India — with its rising middle class — as a way to diversify its revenue stream (not to mention its concurrent plan to turn the country into a manufacturing hub). While the Big Tech player doesn’t break out India sales in its earnings reports, laws mandate it report sales figures to local authorities. Sources with knowledge of those figures shared with Bloomberg details on how Apple’s seeds in India are now starting to sprout:

• Apple’s total sales in India in the 12 months ending in March reached almost $8 billion, the sources said, a roughly 33% increase from the year prior; iPhone sales accounted for more than half of that revenue.
• For perspective: There are currently just 690 million smartphones in circulation in the nation of 1.4 billion people, with iPhones accounting for just 3.5% of the market, per Counterpoint research. Still, according to some estimates, India’s smartphone market could increase from around $44 billion to $88 billion by 2032.

$8 billion still amounts to a relatively small slice of the entire Apple pie. In its last fiscal year, the company drew around $72 billion in sales in China (China’s per capita GDP is around five times higher than India’s). The sales figure marked a slight cool-down from the year prior.

Antitrust Me: While India may offer a major growth opportunity for Apple, it still has one thing in common with markets where sales have all but leveled out: antitrust scrutiny. Over the weekend, Reuters reported that an investigation by India’s antitrust body concluded Apple had unfairly abused its control of its app store by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. Gee, is anywhere safe for global tech mega-corporations these days?

If at first you don’t succeed, try Canada?

In its first acquisition since it failed to acquire rival US Steel last year, steel giant Cleveland-Cliffs announced Monday that it will buy Canada’s Stelco Holdings for C$3.85 billion ($2.8 billion).

Consolation Prize

Cleveland-Cliffs — which is, would you believe it, headquartered in Cleveland — is the second-largest steelmaker in North America, behind only North Carolina’s Nucor. Where the company comes in at No. 1 is in the US auto industry, where it’s the top metal mover: In its 2023 fiscal year, Cleveland-Cliffs made $7.4 billion in sales, or 35% of its $21.3 billion total, to direct auto industry customers.

Most steel sales to the auto industry are made through annual, negotiated contracts, which the Stelco deal would help offset by adding two steel mills in Canada that sell on the open market and ship 2.6 million net tons of flat-rolled steel per year. Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the acquisition would lead to $120 million in annual cost savings and immediately boost 2024 and 2025 per-share earnings. It will also add major intrigue to the fate of US Steel:

• Cleveland-Cliffs made an unsolicited $7.3 billion offer to take over its rival in August 2023, but US Steel opted for a $14.9 billion merger with Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel. The Nippon deal, however, is in legal and political limbo: an antitrust review by the US Department of Justice is pending, and both major party presidential candidates have indicated they will block the merger.
• Goncalves reiterated on an investor call that Cleveland-Cliffs is still interested, but indicated urgency has waned, stating, “My plate is full right now, my focus is on Stelco.”

Uncritical Mass: Stelco used to be owned by US Steel, but was taken public in Canada in 2017, a year after it was bought by resource investment firm Bedrock Industries. It also happens that Canada’s government said last week that, going forward, it would only approve foreign takeovers of critical minerals companies in “the most exceptional circumstances” — luckily for Cleveland-Cliffs, steel does not fall under the classification.

Sorry, private equity, this is one American legacy retailer you can’t have.

On Monday, the board of directors for Macy’s unanimously voted to end negotiations with activist investors Arkhouse and Brigade — both PE firms — to take the company private for roughly $7 billion at about $25 per share. A Macy’s executive said “the proposal lacks certainty of financing and does not deliver compelling value.” There’s little time for the board to celebrate its decision, though, as the department store has now entered a make-or-break moment.

It’s Go Time

With more than 165 years of doing business under its belt, a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day parade, and a prominent role in a classic Christmas movie, Macy’s is one of the most recognizable retail brands in the US. However, like most brick-and-mortar chains, its oversized, physical footprint has caused it to struggle in the digital days of one-click shopping:

• Macy’s — which also owns the Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury brands — saw net sales fall 2.7% in the first quarter year-over-year, after dipping in both 2022 and 2023. In the past five years, its share price has fallen roughly 25%. However, the company believes it has a shot at a comeback.
• Last fall, Macy’s announced that it was cutting down on its mall-based centers in favor of boutique-style shops, which are roughly one-fifth the size of its megastores and offer more luxury items. A similar tactic is being used by Nordstrom, Target, Kohl’s, and others. Earlier this year, Macy’s announced it would close 150 of its stores, many of which are located in struggling malls. 

Miracle on 34th Street: The board’s decision this week wasn’t too surprising — it rejected a similar deal from Arkhouse and Brigade in January, when the two firms offered to buy the company for $5.8 billion. This only solidifies that the higher-ups at Macy’s are fully behind the brand’s turnaround strategy. Investors seem less enthusiastic. On Monday, its share price fell roughly 12%. Here’s hoping that Operation Boutique can pull off a Macy’s miracle.