Apple CEO Cook says ‘very, very pleased’ as iPhone maker posts record India revenue

Apple revenues from India in the March quarter grew in the “strong double digit” to a new record, chief executive officer Tim Cook said in the company’s earnings call on Thursday, 2 May.

“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,” Cook said while responding to a query from an investor during the call.

Cook termed India “an incredibly exciting market”, adding that the country is “a major focus for us”.

On the factors behind the record revenues from India, he said: “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.”

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

Apple’s two stores in India—one each in Delhi and Mumbai—were among the tech giant’s top-performing stores worldwide in fiscal 2023-24, generating revenues to the tune of ₹190-210 crore, The Economic Times had reported on 22 April, citing an unidentified industry executive.

Both Apple stores—Apple BKC (Mumbai) and Apple Saket (Delhi)—clocked monthly average sales of ₹16-17 crore each since their launch, with the Mumbai one performing a little better “due to a larger size,” the ET report said.

The company is now reportedly looking to open three more company-owned stores: in Pune, Bengaluru and Noida, the report added.

Meanwhile, during the investor call on Thursday, Cook pointed to a growing developer base in India.

“We’ve been very pleased that there is a rapidly-growing base of developers there. And so, we’re working the entire ecosystem from developer to the market to operations, the whole thing. And I just could not be more excited and enthusiastic about it,” Cook said.

Apple clocks strong quarter

Apple on 2 May posted stronger-than-forecasted revenues for the March quarter at $90.8 billion and announced a $110 billion share buyback, the biggest in US history.

Shares of the tech giant climbed about 8% on Thursday following the release of its earnings report.

The company’s revenues were down 4.3% year-on-year (y-o-y), but higher than the $90.3 billion forecasted by Bloomberg analysts, while quarterly earnings per diluted share amounted to $1.53, exceeding analysts’ estimate of $1.50.

“Today Apple is reporting revenue of $90.8 billion for the March quarter, including an all-time revenue record in services,” Cook said. “During the quarter, we were thrilled to launch Apple Vision Pro and to show the world the potential that spatial computing unlocks.”

In the year-ago March quarter, the company had stepped up efforts “to replenish iPhone channel inventory and fulfill significant pent-up demand from the December quarter” following covid-related supply disruptions on the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.

That one-time inventory boost added close to $5 billion to the March quarter revenue last year. “If we remove this from last year’s results, our March quarter total company revenue this year would have grown. Despite this impact, we were still able to deliver the records I described,” Cook said.

Cook also announced that Apple is “looking forward to an exciting product announcement next week, and an incredible Worldwide Developers Conference next month.”

During the call, Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said: “Thanks to very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, our active installed base of devices has reached a new all-time high across all products and all geographic segments, and our business performance drove a new EPS (earnings per share) record for the March quarter.”

“Given our confidence in Apple’s future and the value we see in our stock, our board has authorized an additional $110 billion for share repurchases. We are also raising our quarterly dividend for the twelfth year in a row,” Maestri added.

Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share of the company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on 16 May to shareholders of record as of the close of business on 13 May.