As 4G network rolls in, this is the right time to be in India: Cook

India is the world's third-largest smartphone market with over 100 million smartphones sold last year.

On his maiden visit to India, Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook on Thursday said it was "exactly the right time" to be in the country and the US firm presence will be for "hundreds" of years.

With telecom firms rolling out 4G high speed Internet services, Apple, which is seeing declining sales elsewhere in the world, is betting big on India as a growth market.

"Journey starts with the first step. We are not here for a year or few years, we are here for a long time, 100s of years. And we are a long term company. The thing that we make the most focus is iPhone. It’s a key part," Cook told NDTV.

He added that in order to bring out the "richness" of the iPhone, 4G network is very important.

"4G network is beginning to come in now. I think it's exactly the right time to be here," Cook said.

In a recent analyst conference, Cook had said 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.

Cook is on a four-day trip to India. His itinerary includes meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government officials as well as representatives from India Inc.

Apple has already announced setting up a software laboratory in Bengaluru as well as an office in Hyderabad to focus on development of Maps in India.

Cook had in a recent earnings call stated that he viewed "India as where China was maybe seven to 10 years ago from that point of view, and I think there's a really great opportunity there."

India is world's third-largest smartphone market with over 100 million smartphones sold last year. This is projected to grow 25 per cent this year. But Apple's iPhone has only a 2 per cent market share.

The Apple CEO's visit comes at a time when the US-based firm is focusing on new growth markets like India after posting its first-ever decline in iPhone sales.

In an interview earlier this month, Cook had said Apple sees a "huge market potential" for its products in India and that it is "really putting energy" in the country.