Apple CEO Tim Cook made several call-outs to India during the company’s quarterly earning calls, specifically highlighting the country as an exciting market and an opportunity for it to expand further. The Cupertino-based tech giant has been heavily investing in India in recent years. Cook also revealed that the company made a quarterly revenue record in the country in March, posting strong double-digit growth numbers. Separately, he also hinted at Apple’s expansion plans to further solidify its position in the Indian market.
Tim Cook’s comments came in a shareholder’s call to discuss the company’s performance in the second fiscal quarter of the financial year (in the US, the fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30). While the overall revenue of Apple has reportedly taken a dip of 4 percent YoY, it has continued to post strong numbers in India and several other regional markets. Speaking about the development, Cook said, “We were very, very pleased about it”.
“As you know, as I’ve said before, I see it [India] as an incredibly exciting market and it’s a major focus for us. In terms of the operational side or supply chain side, we are producing there, from a pragmatic point of view, you need to produce there to be competitive,” he added.
Notably, Apple started contract manufacturing in India in 2017, but these were only entry-level and legacy devices. In 2021-22, the tech giant began production of iPhone 14 units in India via Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu plant. According to a report by Bloomberg, India’s production output grew massively with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus units, and it assembled about 14 percent of the company’s total manufactured units, or about one in every seven iPhone units.
Addressing this, the Apple CEO said, “We have both operational things going on [in India] and we have go-to-market, and other initiatives going on. We just opened a couple of stores last year, and we see enormous opportunity there.” Cook also confirmed that the company is working on building a developer ecosystem in the country and claims it is already growing rapidly. “We’re working on all of the entire ecosystem from developer to the market to operations, the whole thing. And I just — I could not be more excited and enthusiastic about it.”
India was also mentioned by the CEO during his announcement about Apple’s sustainability approach. He said the company was working with its partners in the country to replenish 100 percent of the water used in the production process, saving billions of gallons of water over the next two decades.