Tim Cook’s unfinished Apple business in Africa

When Tim Cook took over Apple in 2011, the company was worth about $350 billion. When the tech giant announced his transition to executive chairman in April, its market value had climbed to roughly $4 trillion, while annual revenue had nearly quadrupled.

Apple now has more than 2.5 billion active devices and operates more than 500 stores globally. None of those stores are in Africa.

That is the oddity confronting John Ternus as he took over as Apple’s chief executive on Tuesday. He inherits a company that grew faster than almost any business in history and a continent where Apple’s presence shows up in your pocket but barely shows up in Apple’s own numbers.

How Tim Cook grew Apple into a $4 trillion company

Cook did not build this growth on the iPhone alone, though the iPhone still drives half of Apple’s revenue. In fiscal 2025, iPhone sales brought in $209.59 billion, more than 50% of total revenue.

Four things changed under Cook:

• Services became a major earner. Apple made $109.16 billion from Services in fiscal 2025, and this business runs at a 75.4% profit margin, twice the margin on hardware.
• New product lines arrived. Apple Watch, AirPods, and Vision Pro all launched during his time, and Mac moved to Apple’s own chips.
• The installed base grew past 2.5 billion devices, and each one can bring in ongoing income through subscriptions, app purchases, and ads.
• Apple bought back $89.3 billion of its own shares in fiscal 2025, which raises the value of every share left.

How big is Apple’s business in Africa?

Apple does not break out its African business in its financial reports. The company groups Africa with Europe, India and the Middle East, a region that generated $111.03 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025. 

Other data offers clues, though not a complete picture….