Bullish on India, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the U.S. tech giant was bolstering its presence in India’s “underpenetrated” market to tap the huge growth opportunities in the fast-growing economy amid improving 4G network infrastructure.
“We set a new March quarter record for India, where revenue grew by strong double digits. We continue to strengthen our local presence across the entire ecosystem, and we’re very optimistic about our future in this remarkable country with its very large, young and tech-savvy population, fast-growing economy and improving 4G network infrastructure,” Mr. Cook said in the second quarter results earnings call on Tuesday.
He was asked whether the California-based company is underpenetrated in India and if it needs to work with the government to have Apple-owned stores or production given the great opportunity in the country.
“We think it’s a great opportunity too, and so we’re bringing all the things that we brought to bear in other markets that we’ve eventually done well in, and that’s from channel to stores to our ecosystem and so forth,” he said. Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller was in India opening a developer centre last quarter.
‘Apple underpenetrated’
“And so there are a ton of things going on there (India). And we agree that we are underpenetrated there. Our growth rates are good, really good by most people’s expectations, maybe not mine as much,” he said.
Mr. Cook, who visited India last year and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the iPhone maker is putting a “lot of energy” in India, just like Apple has in other geographies that eventually wound up producing more. “So I’m very excited about it,” he said.
Mr. Cook emphasised the 4G network investment began rolling in in a significant way toward the last quarter of last year in India, which is the third largest smartphone market in the world today behind China and the U.S. “But they are moving fast. They’re moving at a speed that I have not seen in any other country in the world once they were started, and it is truly impressive.”
Apple has been “investing quite a bit” in India and has a “ton of energy” going into the country on a number of fronts.
