Apple CEO Tim Cook ‘very bullish’ on India
NEW YORK : Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook voiced optimism that the Indian government will at some point agree to allow the technology giant to bring in its stores as he lauded the country’s bold reforms, saying he is a “big believer” and “very bullish” on India.
Cook was responding to a question on whether Apple is at a disadvantage in India, as compared with other markets, in terms of ability to own stores and manufacture its products.
“We’ve had really great productive discussions with the Indian government and I fully expect that at some point, they will agree to allow us to bring our stores into the country. We’ve been in discussions with them and the discussions are going quite well,” Cook said during the fourth quarter 2018 earnings call on Thursday.
Cook said that in India there are import duties in some or most of the product categories that Apple is in and in some cases they compound.
“This is an area that we’re giving lots of feedback on. We do manufacture some of the entry iphones in India and that project has gone well. I am a big believer in India. I am very bullish on the country and the people and our ability to do well there,” he said.
Apple on Thursday delivered blockbuster earnings.
The company said net profit climbed 32% to $14.13 billion on revenue that was up 20% to $62.9 billion with help from growing sales of digital content and services to users and other Apple gadgetry.