How India won over Tim Cook and became central to Apple's growth chapter

Cook’s tenure will be remembered for many milestones, but his relentless conviction in India stands out as his most calculated masterstroke. He also said that he is “over the moon excited” about India, characterising the market as a “huge opportunity” for the tech giant.

Over the past decade, Cook turned a notoriously price-sensitive, Android-dominated market into both a premier manufacturing hub and a record-breaking consumer frontier. When Cook first bet on Indian manufacturing, sceptics questioned whether local infrastructure could ever replicate Zhengzhou's hyper-efficiency.

What Happened

Today, the results speak for themselves. Driven by New Delhi’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and Apple’s aggressive “China+1” diversification strategy, India has become central to Apple’s hardware output, according to an Economic Times report.

• In 2016, critics had alleged that Apple was merely using its certified pre-owned programme to "dump" used devices into the Indian market.

• In April 2023, Apple opened its first company-owned stores in India, building on the company's 25-year history in the country.

• Beyond its brick-and-mortar footprint, Apple’s India revenues have shattered quarterly records, climbing past the $9-billion mark as local financing options and trade-in programmes normalised premium smartphone adoption, ET reported.

Key Details

However, Cook firmly pushed back and clarified that Apple’s goal was to bring global refurbishment standards directly to India, restoring pre-owned devices locally to factory-grade condition with full warranties. Cook insisted that the initiative was about expanding affordability and setting up domestic.

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Why It Matters

ET said that all versions of the latest iPhone 17 lineup in India, including the high-end Pro and Pro Max models, are being built at Indian assembly lines run by partners like Foxconn and Tata Electronics, in sync with global launch dates..

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• With plans to roll out Apple Pay later this year and its retail footprint expanding to six stores, India is rapidly cementing its dual role as both a critical manufacturing base and a high-growth.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Livemint as more details emerge