NEW DELHI: Apple needs to manufacture in India to stay in competition, said Tim Cook on Friday. Cook, while speaking at its investor call for the second quarter ended March 2024, also mentioned that India is an incredibly exciting market and it's a major focus for Apple.
“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,” said Cook.
The US tech giant has been assembling smartphones in India through contract manufacturers since 2017. Apple assembled $14 billion worth of iPhones in India during fiscal 2024, constituting 14% of their global iPhone production. This reflects Apple's strategy to diversify its production base away from China. As per reports, Apple aims to manufacture 25% of total iPhone production in India by 2025. Currently, they assemble iPhones ranging from the iPhone 12 to the latest iPhone 15 in India, but not the higher-spec Pro and Pro Max models.
While talking about growth in India, Cook mentioned that the company achieved impressive double-digit growth in the country, leading to a record-breaking March quarter for Apple in India
“Sure. 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've said before, I see it as an incredibly exciting market and it's a major focus for us,” said Cook.
In 2023, Apple opened two retail stores in Delhi and Mumbai. Cook said the company is continuing to expand its channels and is also working on the developer ecosystem.
“We just opened a couple of stores as last year, as you know, and we see 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 all of the entire ecosystem from developer to the market to operations, the whole thing,” said Cook.
Meanwhile, Apple, in its second-quarter result for its fiscal 2024, posted quarterly revenue of $90.8 billion, down 4% year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.53. Apple announced that its board had authorized $110 billion in share repurchases, a 22% increase over last year’s $90 billion authorization. “Given our confidence in Apple’s future and the value we see in our stock, our Board has authorized an additional $110 billion for share repurchases. We are also raising our quarterly dividend for the twelfth year in a row,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO.