“Very, very pleased”: Tim Cook praises Apple's strong performance in India

The Apple CEO hinted at plans to increase smartphone production in India, citing it as a pragmatic move for market competitiveness.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in a video posted on YouTube. / Screengrab/Apple YouTube

Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted in a conference call to investors that the company plans to make more smartphones in India, calling it the "pragmatic" approach it needed to follow to be more competitive.

The iPhone maker has increased production in India amid growing tensions between the United States and China. Earlier, more than half of Apple's components were sourced and manufactured out of Taiwan and China.

“I see it as an incredibly exciting market and it’s a major focus for us. 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 on the call.

Apple is said to have recorded a production of $14 billion in India last year but the bulk of the output was exported. India is said to be the second-largest smartphone market in the world.

“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,” the Apple CEO said.

"We just opened a couple of stores as of last year, as you know, and we see enormous opportunity there (in India). We’re continuing to expand our channels, and also working on the developer ecosystem as well,” he added.

According to a report by CRN, Apple might also reveal its new artificial intelligence (AI) plans earlier than expected. It was earlier believed that these would be unveiled at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June.10. However, there are now indications that Apple's Let Loose event on May.7 might be the date on which the new information about generative AI is shared.