India presents a “really great opportunity” for Apple but slow networks and the informal retail structure there is preventing the tech giant from realising its full potential, its CEO Tim Cook said as the company’s revenues plunged for the first time in 13 years.

Cook said while India is the third-largest smartphone market in the world, it is dominated by “low-end” smartphones primarily because of the network and the economics due to which “the market potential has not been as great there”.

Cook, addressing analysts in a conference call after the company posted decline in revenues for the first time in 13 years, said while India presents a “really great opportunity” for the company, slow networks and the informal retail structure across the country is holding the company back from realising its full potential.

“But I view India as where China was maybe seven to ten years ago from that point of view, and I think there’s a really great opportunity there,” he said.

While sales for Apple in China, its second—largest market after the United States, fell 11 per cent, in India iPhone sales were up 56 per cent from a year ago.

Cook said Apple is placing increasing emphasis in such emerging markets where it’s clear there will be disproportionate growth as compared to the more developed areas.

“ ...if you look at India, and each country has a different story a bit, but the things that have held not only us back perhaps but some others as well is that the LTE rollout with India just really began this year, and so we’ll begin to see some really good networks coming on in India,” Cook said yesterday.

He said faster networks will “unleash the power and capability” of the iPhone in a manner that older networks like the 2.5G or even some 3G networks, would not do.

“And so the infrastructure is one key,” he said.

Cook described building the retail channel as another area that will help Apple get a stronghold in the market.