On Apple’s earnings call last week, Cook said the company has “ great momentum in India, where revenue doubled year over year.” He said he’s confident the company can gain ground, but it will take work on many fronts.
“It’s building stores. It’s building channels. It’s building markets. It’s building the developer ecosystem,” he said. “It’s having the right product lineup for the market. And I feel like we’re making good progress there and are gaining understanding of the market, but we still have a long way to go.”
Apple’s devices are particularly expensive in India because the government levies tariffs on devices manufactured outside the country. That comes on top of prices that start at $999 for the new iPhone X. Its manufacturing in India has been limited to small volumes of the SE, a lower-end smartphone.
Apple has been locked in negotiations with the federal government for about a year over expanding manufacturing facilities and opening its own retail stores. The two sides have been meeting regularly to consider the Cupertino-based phonemaker’s demands, which include exemption from duties on capital equipment, removal of customs duty barriers and the ability to import used iPhones to refurbish and export.