Apple CEO Tim Cook. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was very bullish on India and that was the reason why Apple was investing in retail and online stores in the country and putting out a significant amount of energy here.
Speaking on the post-pandemic opportunity in India in the first quarter earning call, he said, “We actually did fairly well through COVID in India and I’m even more bullish now, hopefully on the other side of it. I’m very bullish on India.’‘
Responding to analyst questions on Apple’s strides in India, the Apple CEO said, “Looking at the business in India, we set a quarterly revenue record and grew very strong double digits year over year and so we feel very good about how we performed. That’s despite the headwinds that we talked about.”
“India is a hugely exciting market for us and a major focus. We brought the online store there in 2020. We will soon bring Apple Retail there. We are putting a lot of emphasis on the market. There’s been a lot going from financing options and trade-ins to make products more affordable and give people more options to buy,’‘ he added.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr. Cook said, “We set all-time revenue records in a number of markets including Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey and Vietnam along with quarterly records in Brazil and India.”
Apple CFO Luca Maestri who also spoke during the Q1’23 earnings call mentioned India in his commentary.
“The growth is coming from every major product category and geographic segment, with strong double-digit increases in emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam,’‘ Mr. Luca said.
“India is now a big growth story and a hub for innovation and consumer market. Global tech firms like Apple, Google, Dell, Cisco, IBM or Microsoft should feature, mention, and profile India in their quarterly earnings call, which is critically missing currently. In December 2022 ending the first quarter, Tim Cook invokes India multiple times and his CFO joins him. Is this an indication that American and European consumer markets are shrinking up and focus is shifting towards Asia with a spotlight on India,’‘ said Avinash Vashistha, Chairman Emeritus, Tholons, a global innovation advisory and investment firm.
Cupertino-based Apple posted Q1 revenue of $117.2 billion, down 5% year over year. “During the December quarter, we achieved a major milestone and are excited to report that we now have more than 2 billion active devices as part of our growing installed base,’‘ added Mr. Cook.
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