Tim Cook: India A Hugely Exciting Market, I’m Very Bullish On It
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., recently lauded India for its potential for commercial expansion and said he is “very positive about India.” He also remarked that India is a “hugely intriguing market” for Apple and other technology businesses. During a call with investors, Cook reportedly told them that Apple is placing “a lot of emphases” on the Indian market, which is also where the company established a quarterly revenue record. The reports originated from the media.
In his speech, Cook also discussed Apple’s year-over-year profit decline, which fell 5% from the last year to $117.2 billion. According to the reports, he attributed the reduction in gains to three main factors: the macroeconomic environment, issues associated with COVID-19, and foreign exchange headwinds.
The Covid-19 issues had hampered the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max supply, he claimed, “resulting in ship timeframes that were far longer than we had planned.” He continued by saying that output had returned to the desired level. Regarding the third aspect, he stressed that Apple is not immune to “extraordinary circumstances around the world, from inflation to war in Easter Europe and the persistent impacts of the epidemic.”
“I was already optimistic about the future before COVID hit India, but now that we seem to be emerging from it, I feel even more hopeful. That’s why we’re putting money into it, opening an online store, and focusing a lot of effort on it. Cook noted in the results report, “I am very bullish on India.
Cook claimed that Apple reached a significant milestone during the quarter and now had more than 2 billion active devices. Later on, in the results call, he claimed that Apple had broken “quarterly revenue records in Brazil and India as well as all-time revenue records in several territories, including Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, and Vietnam.” Apple’s CFO, Luca Maestri, described the growth rates in developing nations like India as being in the “double digits.”
When analysts inquired about Apple’s development in India, Tim Cook responded: “Having a look at the company in India, we produced a quarterly profit milestone and increased very significantly by double digits over the past year. As a result, we are extremely pleased about how we performed.” Despite the obstacles we already discussed, this is true.
“India is a highly exciting market for us and a big emphasis,” the Apple CEO continued. In 2020, we relocated the online store there. Apple Retail will soon be there. The market is something we emphasise a lot. Several developments in financing choices and trade-ins have increased peoples’ purchasing options and made things more accessible.
The Cupertino tech giant has already begun producing the iPhone 14 in India. He is also exploring making other goods there, such as its wireless headphones Airpods, which could significantly advance India’s plans to become a significant manufacturing base. As India strives to increase domestic smartphone production, local media reports indicate that 14 Chinese Apple suppliers have been awarded preliminary approval by the government.
According to a recent article, Apple exported more than $2.5 billion worth of iPhones from India between April and December, doubling the amount from the last fiscal year. Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of business and industry, stated in January 2023 that Apple currently produces 5-7 per cent of its products worldwide in India and plans to increase that number to 25 per cent after the country launches its most recent iPhone models.
How well has Apple done in India?
Cook also lauded Apple’s success in India during the Covid-19 outbreak and stated that the business felt particularly pleased about how its goods generated large profits in the Indian market after it set a record quarterly revenue and double-digit year-over-year growth in the nation.
According to the company’s earnings estimates, a significant portion of Indian consumers migrated from Android to IOS during the past few years. Apple is currently the market leader in India’s premium smartphone market, as indicated by the findings of Counterpoint Research, a company that specialises in conducting market research. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple had the highest quarterly shipping volume in the smartphone business in the United States during the financial year 4th quarter of 2022. (more than Rs 30,000).
“On the other side, I’m even more optimistic now. And for that reason, we are making investments there. We’re introducing retail there, as well as the online store, and putting a lot of effort into it. I’m really bullish on India,” Cook was reported as saying by a news source.
According to the media, Apple Inc. exported iPhones from India valued at more than $2.5 billion between April and December 2022. This figure is over twice as high as exports for the full fiscal year 2021–2022 (FY22), demonstrating the product’s quick transition from China.
Recruiting in the retail stores
According to job postings on the company’s website, as of January, Apple has reportedly already started recruiting for its retail locations. It is expected to launch the 22,000-square-foot Bandra Kurla Complex location this year, as opposed to the last 2016 target date.
At this time, Apple products are only available through approved resellers and the official Apple online shop. As in many other areas, Apple still needs to have a fully functional shop run by its workers. Apple may have more control over the products sold, maintained, and advertised in India if it can run its stores.
In the past, the business had challenges while attempting to open its retail outlets due to a local sourcing requirement imposed on single-brand retail stores. In 2019, this restriction was loosened, making it possible for Apple to open new stores sooner rather than later. The locations and the quantity of these stores have yet to be publicly confirmed.
According to Counterpoint Research, Apple’s predicted market share in the Indian smartphone industry in 2022 has increased to 4%, up from 1% in 2018. This represents a significant increase from 2018. According to the research group, the corporation will profit as more people migrate away from mid-tier handsets in the coming years. The company’s sales decreased by 43% in 2018, but they increased by 90% and 16%, respectively, in 2021 and 2022, according to data from the research firm.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
