Apple is slowly but steadily strategising its plans to make deeper inroads in a country where over 450 million people use smartphones, mostly Android and from China. “We’ve opened a developer, accelerator there, which we’re very happy with some of the things coming out of there. It’s a long-term play. It’s not something that’s going to be on overnight huge business. But I think the growth potential is phenomenal,” Cook told the analysts as Apple posted a revenue of $58 billion for its second quarter of 2019.

In India, price is a key factor when it comes to buying a smartphone. According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, this is like a fresh start for Apple in India once it localizes assembly operations. “It needs to target the growing price segment of $400 above. Timing-wise, things are fine but Apple still need to work around its pricing strategy,” Pathak told IANS.

Last one year has been tough for Apple in India, with its market share tumbling to less than 1 percent in the first quarter of 2019. Realising this, Apple has begun reducing the price of newly-launched iPhones in India. The company offered a “promotional offer” earlier this month to bring down the cost of its Rs 76,900 iPhone XR (64GB) by as much as Rs 23,000.

Cook said that it doesn’t bother him that it’s primarily Android business at the moment in India “because that just means there’s a lot of opportunity there”.