During the company's quarterly results call, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised India's expanding middle class and claimed that the market is at the "tipping point" of a high development trajectory. This praise came just weeks after Cook's visit to India to inaugurate the first two company-owned stores.
Such was the optimism that Cook, responding to questions on a conference call in the US following the release of worldwide earnings, cited India over 20 times during the exchange, when he also mentioned several other markets and spoke about record sales there.
“… India is an incredibly exciting market. It’s a major focus for us. I was just there, and the dynamism in the market, the vibrancy was unbelievable… There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it’s great to be there," he said. The Apple CEO said that the company - which reported global revenues of $94. 8 billion for the March quarter - had record numbers in India.
He said that the company has been expanding its operations in India to serve more customers, and gave the example of the Apple Online Store that went live around three years ago. “We've got a number of channel partners in India as well that we're partnering with, and we're very happy with how that's going overall. Overall, I couldn't be more delighted and excited by the enthusiasm I'm seeing for the brand there.”