Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about India in Q2 earnings call, says it’s an ‘incredibly exciting market’

Apple CEO Tim Cook made several calls to India during the company’s quarterly earnings calls, specifically highlighting the country as an exciting market and an opportunity for further expansion. The Cupertino-based tech giant has invested heavily in India in recent years. Cook also revealed that the company hit a record quarterly domestic revenue in March, posting strong double-digit growth. Separately, he also hinted at Apple’s expansion plans to further strengthen its position in the Indian market.

Tim Cook’s comments came in an invitation to shareholders to discuss the company’s performance in the second fiscal quarter of the financial year (the US fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30). Although Apple’s total revenue reportedly fell 4 percent year-on-year, it continued to report strong numbers in India and several other regional markets. Speaking about the development, Cook said: “We were very, very pleased with it.”

“As you know, as I 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 the supply chain side, we manufacture there, pragmatically you have to manufacture there to be competitive,” he added.

It should be noted that Apple started contract manufacturing in India in 2017, but these were only base and legacy devices. In 2021-22, the tech giant started manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India through Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu plant. According to a report from Bloomberg, India’s production grew significantly with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus devices and assembled about 14 percent of the company’s total devices produced, or about one in seven iPhones.

Speaking about it, the Apple CEO said: “We have both operational things [in India] and we have go-to-market and other initiatives underway. We just opened a couple of stores last year and we see a huge opportunity there.” Cook also confirmed that the company is working on building a developer ecosystem in the country and claims that it is already growing rapidly. “We’re working on the whole ecosystem from developer to market to operations, the whole thing. And I just… couldn’t be more excited and enthusiastic about it.”

India was also mentioned by the CEO during his announcement about Apple’s approach to sustainable development. He said the company is working with its domestic partners to replenish 100 percent of the water used in the manufacturing process, saving billions of gallons of water over the next two decades.