Tim Cook

Apple bets big on India's rising middle class as strong iPhone sales and exports make the country a key growth and manufacturing hub

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said he is "over the moon excited" about India, characterising the country's market as a "huge opportunity" for the tech giant. "Yes. I think it's a huge opportunity for us. We've been focused on this for a while. It's the second largest smartphone market in the world and the third largest PC market," Cook said at Apple's second quarter 2026 earnings call on Thursday. Cook's remarks came to a question about his outlook on the Indian market and the overall opportunity it offers. He also acknowledged that the tech giant still has a "modest share" in India despite doing "extremely well" in the country for quite some time. Tim also discussed India's rising middle class, the potential it has and said since most customers across all our product lines are new to the brand, it's a perfect environment for us to grow. " Net-net, I'm over the moon excited about India," he added. Apple saw its quarterly revenue climb 17 per cent to USD 111.2 billion

Apple's long-time CEO Tim Cook is set to step down after 15 years at the helm. John Ternus has been named the next CEO who is set to take over from September 1, 2026

Tim Cook ushered Apple into its most profitable era. His strategic approach, market pragmatism, and risk appetite pushed the company's market value to $4 trillion during his tenure

As Tim Cook steps down after 15 years, John Ternus inherits a more mature Apple shaped by services growth, rising R&D focus, and India's expanding iPhone market

From leadership shifts at the US Federal Reserve and Apple to rupee management, GST rate cuts and climate discourse, today's Opinion page captures key economic and policy debates

Apple's leadership shift to John Ternus comes at a critical moment as the company races to catch up in AI and defend its dominance in a rapidly evolving tech landscape

The maps app famously didn't work properly in much of the world, providing users with wrong directions, mislabeled landmarks and a far inferior experience to what was then offered by Google

"I'm excited to continue my journey at Apple as executive chairman," said Cook, 65. I am healthy. My energy is high, and I plan to be in this new role for a long time

Apple's next CEO John Ternus is a company veteran who rose through the iPhone maker's hardware engineering ranks but until now has maintained a low profile. Ternus will take over as chief executive in September for Tim Cook, who turned Apple into a USD 4 trillion tech colossus during his 15-year run after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Ternus faces challenges that will force him to step out of his comfort zone in hardware engineering. Beyond finding ways to keep Apple competitive in the artificial intelligence race, he will need to navigate supply chain questions and relationships with figures like President Donald Trump, who offered public praise for his predecessor on Tuesday. Although Cook is handing over the CEO reins at Apple, he is widely expected to help the Cupertino, California, company maintain a good relationship with Trump after he shifts over to his new role as executive chairman. Ternus, 50, has spent almost his entire career with Apple. He joined the company 25

Apple said that Cook's work will include engaging policymakers around the world

As Ternus assesses his management team, there's a broader concern. Another wave of longstanding executives could retire around the same time, and he'll have to find new ones

Ternus inherits a company that has already solved for size. The challenge now is to define Apple's next phase of growth

Apple Inc exceeded the government's cumulative PLI production target of ₹3.35 trillion in FY21-FY26, achieving ₹6.02 trillion

The outgoing CEO Tim Cook, who'll stay on as executive chairman, built up an unprecedented record of success over his tenure

This will be the first leadership appointment at Apple in 15 years since Tim Cook took over the CEO role from co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011

Apple has announced Tim Cook's exit as CEO, marking the end of an era defined by major launches like AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Silicon Macs

The change aims to simplify the structure of his organisation, which will add thousands of employees and responsibility over the engineering of the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and other products

Cook, who took the CEO role from co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, will stay with the company as executive chairman after the transition set to take place on Sept 1

Ternus, 50, has served as head of hardware engineering since 2021 and spent 25 years focused on product development at the iPhone maker