Apple is placing a greater focus on India, reshuffling management of its international businesses, Bloomberg News reports citing “people with knowledge of the matter.” In a new first, India will become its own sales region at Apple, which has seen demand surge in the country.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
[The move] will give the Asian nation increased prominence inside the tech giant, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the move hasn’t been announced.
Apple is making the change after its vice president in charge of India, the Middle East, Mediterranean, East Europe and Africa — Hugues Asseman — recently retired. With his departure, the iPhone maker is promoting its head of India, who reported to Asseman. That executive, Ashish Chowdhary, will now report directly to Michael Fenger, Apple’s head of product sales.
Apple has created an online store to serve the region and is planning to open its first retail outlets in the country later this year. On the last earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said the company is putting “a lot of emphasis on the market” and compared the current state of its work in India to its early years in China.
“We are, in essence, taking what we learned in China years ago and how we scale to China and bringing that to bear,” he said.
MacDailyNews Note: And, on the manufacturing side, last September, J.P.Morgan analysts estimated last year that 25% of all Apple products would be made outside China by 2025, up from just 5% currently.
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