Apple Holds Town Hall Meeting to Make Announcements, Answer Questions

Following its recent earnings call, Apple held a town hall meeting for company employees to make some announcements and take questions, reports 9to5Mac.

Multiple sources in attendance at the event said that Cook as well as newly appointed Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams each spoke and made announcements and teases related to new employee benefits, future iPad growth, Apple Watch sales, future retail stores in China, Apple Campus 2, and the future product pipeline.

Cook highlighted the company's successes in the quarter and indicated that he expects iPad revenue growth to return by the end of the year. He also noted that the Apple TV reached a new sales record during the quarter and sets the stage for a 'bright' future in the living room.


Cook said he was excited about future products from the company's software, services, and hardware divisions. Notably, Apple is apparently using Apple Music on Android as a testing grounds for expanding its services division to other platforms.

As previously reported, Cook expects employees to begin moving into Apple Campus 2 by the end of January 2017. He also expressed how great it will be for Apple to have its own theater which can be used to hold press events.

The town hall meeting was also used to talk to employees about new benefits. First, Apple employees will now get up to four weeks off of paid leave if they need to take care of an ill family member. Additionally, the company's expanded maternity and paternity benefits will now be available in most countries.

At the meeting, Jeff Williams revealed that Apple will soon announce that all of its smelting metals going forward are either completely conflict-free or from smelting partners that are becoming wholly conflict-free.


Finally, Cook talked about emerging markets and their role in the company's future. He sees the iPhone as the “greatest business of the future” claiming that Apple has room to grow the device for decades. For instance, Cook says that 4G LTE is still not available in some emerging markets and as such there is opportunity for Apple to push its new devices to those areas. He highlighted India as an important growth area and noted that Apple is opening its 40th store in China by the end of summer.

Cook doesn't think Apple needs to launch a cheaper iPhone; rather he says research indicates that people in growing markets are willing to pay more for a better experience.

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