Strong growth in India continued to reap rich dividends for Apple as CEO Tim Cook said the company is “very, very pleased” after scoring a double-digit revenue growth here.
Cook spoke about Apple’s growing engagement in India across retail functions and developer ecosystem as he pointed to sustainability efforts initiated by the company in water conservation.
On growth in India, Cook said, “We did grow strong double-digit. And so, we were very, very pleased about it. It was a new March quarter revenue record for us. As you know, as I have said before, I see it as an incredibly exciting market and it’s a major focus for us.”
Apple is growing sales channels in the country, apart from engaging deeper with the developer ecosystem, says Cook. He had visited India last year to inaugurate two company-owned stores. He also met PM Narendra Modi and other partners.
“We just opened a couple of stores last year, as you know, and we see (an) enormous opportunity there. We’re continuing to expand our channels, and also working on the developer ecosystem as well. And we’ve been very pleased that there is a rapidly-growing base of developers there. And so, we’re working on entire ecosystem from developer to market to operations, the whole thing. And I just — I could not be more excited and enthusiastic about it.”
Apple has seen fast adoption of its products in India as the company sells across channels — both offline and online. The adoption has been enabled by growing product finance opportunities, as well as lucrative buybacks, at the level of retail.
The company is also helped by higher production within India where Foxconn, Tatas and Pegatron are manufacturing locally. This makes the products competitive. “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,” Cook said.
As Apple moves production out of China, India seems to be a clear beneficiary. The company is understood to have had a record production of $14 billion in India last year, with a bulk of the output being exported. Apple said it is also working with partners in India and US to replenish 100% of water it uses in places that need it most, “with the goal of delivering billions of gallons of water benefits over next two decades.” Globally, Apple posted a quarterly revenue of $90.8 billion, down 4% year-on-year. For second quarter, iPhone sales fell 10% to $45.9 billion.
