I love India, but Apple has higher potential elsewhere: CEO Cook

In an earnings conference call that Apple CEO, Tim Cook held with analysts, he affirmed that while he loves India, he believes that there are other countries where Apple has higher potential in the intermediate term. Cook was answering questions pertaining to Apple's presence (or the lack of it) in the country, and the company's future growth plans in India.

Cook also added that the multi-layered distribution in India has been adding to the costs of getting products to market. Cook was further quoted as saying, "We have a business there and the business is growing but the multi-layered distribution there really adds to the cost of getting products to market". He, however clarified that this does not mean that the company will not focus on the country. He said his "own perspective is that in the intermediate term there will be larger opportunities outside (of India)". 

Apple to launch a new tool for creating ebooks?

Tim Cook recently also rubbished rumours of opening an Apple store in the country, saying that they had no such plans in place. These stores were said to be on the lines of those that the Cupertino brand has in countries such as the U.S, the UK, and Germany, as opposed to the Apple product resellers in India, such as the Reliance iStore and Imagine

Just last month, Apple introduced its iTunes Store across 12 Asian countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. India remained conspicious by its absence. Though India already has access to the App Store for purchasing applications for iOS devices or Mac computers, it is sad that despite being an emerging market, India has been overlooked as a destination for direct sale of music or videos from iTunes. This has left many users without a choice, and more often than not, left them with the option to download music illegally. 

Early this month, premium Apple product MacBook Pro with Retina Display made its entry into the country with a premium price tag. The base version starts at Rs. 1,52,900. The price of the product in India is roughly the equivalent of Rs. 30,000 more than what it is selling for in the U.S. The reason Apple is pricing these notebooks in India at such prices could be the decline in the Rupee in comparison to the Dollar. [via Tech2]