Tim Cook sees India on path to becoming major market, production base

Following record sales numbers in the country for a March quarter, Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasized how important India is for the company, both as a major market and as a production base.

During a conference call regarding earnings, Cook along with his lieutenants mentioned the country at least twenty times. Expressing enthusiasm about the future of Apple in India, Cook said, “There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point.”

"I was there to see it for myself, and I couldn't have been more delighted by the excitement and enthusiasm of the customers, developers, creators, and team members I got to spend time with," he said.

At a time when overall smartphone sales are plateauing in other parts of the world, Apple is keen on promoting growth in the country, which has both the world’s largest population as well as rising incomes. The company reportedly made USD six billion worth of sales in the year through March.

Aside from gaining market share, Apple is also looking for ways to take advantage of the massive labor pool India has to offer, in a bid to decrease its reliance on China as its main base of manufacturing due to ever-increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing. Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron, Apple’s longtime manufacturing partners, have all recently set up assembly lines in India.