Apple: India’s people & culture set for extraordinary journey ahead: Apple CEO Tim Cook – Times of India

There were plenty of fanboy moments for hundreds of people waiting for hours outside Apple’s first India store — in the heart of Mumbai — as Tim Cook walked out the doors on Tuesday, but as one of the world’s most-admired global CEOs greeted, hugged and laughed with his admirers and those of the iconic brand, it became clear India is the Apple of his eye too. India and its GDP are set for an “extraordinary run”, Cook told TOI in an interview, with the country having the potential to emerge as “one of Apple’s largest markets”. Excerpts:
You have praised the Indian market and the growth here in various quarterly results’ performances. How do you see the country when you compare it to China or other bigger markets?
I think India will have its own journey. So, I wouldn’t compare India to anyone. It will be a unique journey. Because the country itself is unique. It has different characteristics. India’s journey is clear to me, and it would be an extraordinary journey — whether you measure things in GDP, or however you want to measure things. The scale will be enormous. All this because I feel it in the people here. Ultimately, a country’s success comes down to people and culture more than anything else. And the people and culture of India have an extraordinary journey ahead.

You have always praised the Indian market and its potential. But we are still 1.5-2% of your global revenues of $394 billion of last fiscal. Where do you see the Indian market by the close of this decade?
I wouldn’t want to give a specific number other than to tell you that India over time will be one of Apple’s largest markets. I think it has that kind of potential to it. I am making the point that the country’s GDP is going to have an extraordinary run ahead of it, extraordinary. I wouldn’t want to give a number, but (it will be) just big, huge.

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Tell us about Apple’s work with app developers in the market, and also how you are helping create skilling and jobs here.
It’s been great to spend time with developers here in India! It’s such a vibrant developer community, made up of people with so many great ideas, so much creativity, and so much passion for their work and the impact it can have on the world. To support them, we created our App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru in 2017, which has helped thousands of developers take their ideas to the next level and bring cutting-edge apps to the market. The iOS app economy in India now supports more than 1 million jobs, which is a testament to the tremendous growth of the developer community and the incredible creativity that we see here.

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What about carbon neutrality and sustainability of your operations here?
At Apple, we’re deeply committed to protecting the environment and combating climate change, which we believe is one of the world’s most urgent challenges. We’re already carbon neutral for all of Apple’s operations and Apple BKC, which opened today, has an on-site solar array and is one of our most sustainable stores ever. And we’re committed to being carbon neutral across our global supply chain and the life cycle of our products by 2030. Our Indian suppliers are joining us in that effort, with all of our active manufacturing partners committed to using 100 per cent clean energy for their Apple operations.