'Tremendous Opportunity in India'

BENGALURU: Tim Cook,CEO, Apple who completes five years at the helm of Apple, has said he envisages great potential in the Indian market, especially with 4G coming in. Cook made these comments in an interview to the Washington Post, where he spoke at length about future products like Augmented Reality (AR)and the Apple Car. The interview, which expatiates over various aspects of business, also has Cook’s views on India and its role as a global market.

During  this interview, Cook admitted, being Apple’s CEO is a lonely job, although in times of crisis he has turned to others for help. He was also frank about the fact that the first version of Maps was a mistake. Apple introduced transit directions for certain cities with Maps in iOS 9, although as it turned out the first version of Maps was a disaster.

 When he was asked about the smartphone business and whether it was slowing down, Cook had a different take on it. He pointed out that smartphones are very  personal products, and while the global market stands at 1.4 billion today, eventually “every person in the world will have a smartphone.”

On India, Cook elaborated that in India many people still don’t have a smartphone and that a lot of people here are switching from Android to iOS, which is a big thing for Apple considering that Android has a larger presence in the market. He also spoke about the big impact of the 4G in the Indian market, thanks to efforts from two major carriers who are investing big time in the technology.

Talking about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Cook said, "To me, Steve’s not replaceable."

When he was asked about who he turns to for advice, he said that it depends on the issue. Cook said that during 2013 probe of Apple's practices, he turned to former president Bill Clinton and Lloyd Blankfein,CEO, Goldman Sachs for help on how to face the US Congress.On business related issues, he said, "I call up Warren Buffett. I thought he’s the natural person to turn to, and so I try to go through that process on everyone."

Apple under Tim Cook is believed to have become more systematic, transparent and team-oriented. But if you think, it also makes the company more open about the products it is working on; you got it wrong. He stressed on the fact that there is no need to change strategy on product secrecy and it’s going to be the same as it has always been.

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