Apple’s CEO Tim Cook wants his company to focus on the Indian smartphone market and plans to bring all the company’s initiatives to the country in order to improve its shares in the region with current share standing at 2.5%.
A report from Forrester highlights that mobile users around the globe will reach the 5.5 billion figure by 2022, and India will be leading the way.
Cook, speaking to analyst’s queries during its Q2 2018 earning call, said “India is the third largest smartphone market in the world. There are huge opportunities for us in India and we have an extremely low share in that market overall.”
“And so we’re putting a lot of energy there (in India) and working with the carriers in that market and they’re investing enormously on LTE networks and the infrastructure has come quite a way since we began to put a lot of energy in there, because of their leadership,” he said.
Apple has partnered with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio along with other 4G services providers to data services on iPhones, and these Indian focused initiatives have served the company well.
Apple has previously faced several roadblocks, especially adhering to the local norms set by the Indian government, in opening up its first retail store, but it seems like the Cupertino giant will be able to mark its footprint for sure very soon.
For now, the only product produced in India is the iPhone SE contracted by manufacturer Wistron in Bengaluru, while iPhone 6s Plus built locally to test the markets are set in place as well.
