CEO Tim Cook has described India as a “major focus” for Apple, saying the business has a “low share” of the country’s enormous market and that there is “a lot of headroom” and “positives” for the company there.
“We had an all-time revenue record in India. We grew very strong double-digits. It’s an incredibly exciting market for us and a major focus of ours,” Cook said Thursday during Apple’s Q4 2023 earnings conference call.
He went on to say that Apple has a “low share in a large market, so there appears to be a lot of headroom there.” Tim Cook was replying to a question on the momentum in India and the prospect for growth in hardware units.
Cook underscored that Apple sees “an extraordinary market” in India, “a lot of people moving into the middle class, distribution is getting better, lots of positives.”
The company has set up two retail stores in Mumbai and Delhi and Cook said “they’re doing better than we anticipated. It’s still early going, but they’re off to a good start and I couldn’t be happier with how things are going at the moment.”
Apple has released its financial results for the fiscal 2023 fourth quarter, which ended September 30, 2023. The firm reported quarterly sales of USD 89.5 billion, a 1% decrease from USD 90.1 billion the previous year.
Cook said that Apple reached “an all-time revenue record” in India, as well as September quarter records in a number of countries, including Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, and Vietnam.
According to him, iPhone revenue exceeded the company’s forecasts, hitting a September quarter record as well as quarterly records in numerous areas, including China mainland, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, and an all-time record in India.
Responding to a question on a comparison between Apple’s growth momentum in India and China over the years, Cook said “Each country has its own journey” and he “wouldn’t want to play the comparison game.” Apple CFO Luca Maestri noted that the company is “particularly pleased” with its performance in emerging markets with revenue reaching an all-time record in fiscal 2023 and double-digit growth in constant currency.
“We are expanding our direct presence in these markets from new Apple retail stores in India to online stores in Vietnam and Chile,” Maestri said.
Cook visited India in April for the first time in seven years to establish Apple’s first official retail shop in Mumbai, followed by the opening of a second store in New Delhi. The launch of Apple’s first two shops in India was dubbed a “milestone” by the company’s CEO.
