Tim Cook Talks iPhone Sales At Apple Town Hall

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With reports coming in that sales of Apple's cash cow -- the iPhone -- are likely to slow in the coming year, CEO Tim Cook addressed the tech giant's dependency on its ubiquitous smartphone at a town hall-style meeting for the company's employees.

The report from Apple blog 9to5Mac, which quoted several sources who were present at the meeting, revealed the company's recently appointed chief operating officer Jeff Williams, known as "Tim Cook's Tim Cook" at Apple, also made some comments concerning the supply chain.

Cook praised the sales successes of the Apple Watch in the fourth quarter of 2015, claiming it outsold the original iPhone during its first holiday season, and predicted iPad sales would rebound. Cook also said a new iPad would be released in March.

Apple, posted a 24.8% decline in shipments, but was able to curb the decline in iPad revenue with the successful launch of the iPad Pro and a shift toward higher priced units, according to a recent IDC report.

The company still managed to take about a quarter of the tablet market during the fourth quarter of 2015, shipping just over 16 million units.

Reading his presentation from the screen of an iPad Pro, Cook also touted the company's forays into entertainment through Apple Music and the new Apple TV, which he said indicate a bright future for the company in the living room.

On the retail end of things, Cook stressed the importance of the Chinese market, and said the company would open its 40th retail store in that country this year. He also announced plans to bring Apple stores to India as well.

Cook called the company's new headquarters (a futuristic spaceship-looking piece of architecture designed by Pritzker Prize-winning British architect Norman Foster) a gift to Apple employees that would be ready to welcome them early next year.

In addition to a new office environment -- and an event space on campus big enough for Apple to cease relying on downtown San Francisco venues -- Apple employees will also be getting a time-off benefit in the form of four weeks of family leave in case a member is sick.

The company has also added extended maternity and paternity leave to most of its office operations in countries outside the US.

[Check out these futuristic designs of corporate campuses from Apple, Amazon, and others.]

Cook also seemed bullish on the iPhone's future, reportedly claiming the company could grow the iPhone market far into the future. He noted that 4G LTE networks aren't yet available in some markets -- like India -- but could draw additional interest in the smartphone once they are set up.

In tandem with its Jan. 26 earnings release, the company acknowledge iPhone sales, which drove this quarter's success, are predicted to tumble for the first time.

Though iPhone sales hit 74.8 million units during the most recent quarter, an all-time high, it was an increase of less than 1% from 74.5 million in the same period one year ago.

Overall, Apple announced $18.4 billion in quarterly profit and $75.9 billion in quarterly revenue. This marks little change from Apple's financial first quarter of 2015, when the company reported $18 billion in profit and $74.6 billion in revenue.

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