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

As John Ternus steps in to lead Apple, he inherits more than just the $3-trillion tech empire — a massive advantage built by his predecessor, Tim Cook: India.

Cook’s tenure will be remembered for many milestones, but his relentless conviction in India stands out as his most calculated masterstroke.

“It (India) is a major focus for us. I was just there, and the dynamism in the market, the vibrancy, is unbelievable,” Cook said.

During Apple’s second quarter 2026 earnings call in April, Cook said, “We’ve been focused on this for a while. It’s the second largest smartphone market in the world and the third largest PC market.”

He also said that he is “over the moon excited” about India, characterising the market as a “huge opportunity” for the tech giant.

Also Read | Tim Cook steps down as Apple CEO on 1 September, John Ternus to succeed him

Supply chain pivot

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. Today, the results speak for themselves.

“From a pragmatic point of view, you need to produce there to be competitive,” Cook previously noted during an investor interaction, defending the aggressive shift. “We’re working on the entire ecosystem from developer to the market to operations… And I could not be more excited and enthusiastic about it.”

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 a 2016 interview with NDTV, Cook said India is different from China. “India is a different place, and we are going into India very humbly,” he said. “India is a hugely exciting market for us and is a major focus,” Cook said, noting that India has an enormously bright future and Apple “would like to be a part of that, and we plan to be.”

In 2016, critics had alleged that Apple was merely using its certified pre-owned programme to “dump” used devices into the Indian market. 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 refurbishment infrastructure, rejecting any notion of offloading substandard inventory onto Indian consumers.

“We are putting enormous amounts of energy into India. Not here for a quarter, we are here for a thousand years,” he told NDTV. “We’re not about making the most of thinking for the long term and never lowering the bar on best, those are the things we are about.”

Also Read | Apple flags chip shortage risk as iPhone and Mac sales growth slows

The ET report noted that India now accounts for 25% of global iPhone output, i.e., approximately one in every four iPhones assembled globally. Apple assembled about 55 million iPhones in India in 2025, up from 36 million a year earlier, ET reported.

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.

The push, the report said, has expanded well beyond final assembly into component localisation, including lithium-ion cells, watch and phone enclosures and accessories such as AirPods.

For Cook, supply chain diversification wasn’t merely a risk-mitigation hedge against geopolitical tensions; it was an operational reimagining that insulated Apple’s bottom line against single-market disruption.

In April 2023, Apple opened its first company-owned stores in India, building on the company’s 25-year history in the country. Cook personally inaugurated Apple’s first company-owned flagship stores: Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in New Delhi.

“India is at a tipping point. You can just feel the vibrancy, the dynamism, the feeling that anything here is possible. And it’s so great to be a part of it,” Cook told reporters during his visit to the country.

“India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history — supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity,” he had said.

Also Read | Apple India looks beyond iPhone for growth as market starts maturing

Apple’s presence in India

During the 2023 February quarter, Apple India registered its record revenue and iPhone shipments. Cook said, “We’re bringing retail there and bringing the online store there and putting a significant amount of energy there. I’m very bullish on India.”

That retail momentum quickly unlocked aggressive nationwide expansion, with Apple now owning 6 official stores in metropolitan hubs:

Apple BKC, Mumbai: Opened in April 2023 as Apple’s very first flagship store in India, featuring a custom design inspired by Mumbai’s iconic kaali-peeli taxis.
Apple Saket, New Delhi: Opened in April 2023, right after the Mumbai debut, serving as the primary flagship hub for the National Capital Region.
Apple Hebbal, Bengaluru: Apple’s first direct retail store in Karnataka, targeting South India’s premier tech corridor.
Apple Koregaon Park, Pune: Expanding Apple’s direct retail presence in Maharashtra to cater to Pune’s large base of enterprise professionals and university students.
Apple Noida, Delhi-NCR: The second official store in the Delhi-NCR cluster, strengthening retail penetration across suburban NCR.
Apple Borivali, Mumbai: Mumbai’s second flagship outlet, expanding coverage to the Western Suburbs.

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.

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 consumer market for the Cupertino tech giant.