Apple CEO Tim Cook presents at Goldman Sachs conference
Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco yesterday. He has presented at the event a number times before, but this was his first as Apple CEO. Topics covered included: the success of the iPhone and iPad, why the Apple TV is considered a hobby device, and Chinese factory working conditions.
Apple did provide a live stream of the presentation, but don’t worry if you missed it. Not only can you can listen to a recording of it on their website, but courtesy of CNNMoney, here are some of the highlights:
Selling 37 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2012
“37 million is a big number. It was a decent quarter. It was 17 million more than we’d ever done before. We were pretty happy with that, but let me give you the way I look at the numbers. As I see it, that 37 million for last quarter represented 24% of the smartphone market. There’s 3 out of 4 people buying something else. 9 out of 10 phone buyers are buying something else.
Handset market is projected to go from 1.5 to 2 billion units. Take it in the context of these numbers, the truth is that this is a jaw-dropping industry with enormous opportunity. Up against those numbers, the numbers don’t seem so large anymore. What seems so large to me is the opportunity.”
The success of the iPad
“It’s amazing how the product has captured so many people – you’re using one, my mother’s using one, my seven-year-old nephew uses one. I to go the gym in the morning, the trainer’s using one. At Starbucks, I look around – everybody has one, reading their newspaper or whatever. In education, it’s being used, in the enterprise, it’s being used in big numbers. From my point of view, it’s the fastest adoption across a wide range that I’ve ever seen before.”
Why the Apple TV is considered a hobby device
“We sold 1.4 million last quarter. It’s clearly ramping. But the reality, the reason we call it a hobby, is that we don’t want to send a message to you or our shareholders that we think that the market for it is the size of our other businesses, the size of the phone business, the size of the Mac business, the size of the iPad business, or the iPod business. We don’t want to send the signal that we think the leg of that stool is of equal length as those others. And so that’s the reason we messaged it as a hobby.”
Chinese factory working conditions
“Apple takes working conditions very, very seriously, and we have for a very long time… Our commitment is simple: Every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination, where they can earn competitive wages and they can voice their concerns freely. Apple suppliers must live up to this to do business with Apple. If we find a supplier that intentionally hires underage labor, it’s a firing offense.”
Visit CNNMoney for a full transcript of the presentation.
