Tim Cook Talks iPhone, SDK, Unlocking, Apple TV

Apple’s Chief Operating Office Tim Cook delivered a 45-minute question and answer session yesterday at the Goldman Sachs Investment Symposium. The Apple COO touched on many interesting subjects during the Q&A.

Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook

The session is available for listening on Apple’s website.

The first interesting piece of information that Cook exposed was Apple’s reasoning behind a locked iPhone. The COO explained that it was difficult to please all users on all networks from the outset, conditions in the US make it impractical due to having to release a CDMA and GSM version of the device to suit all carriers.

He went on to say that the model could change with time but the plan is to provide the best possible experience, the partnership with Apple and AT&T allows for a large amount of coverage and a simple experience for consumers.

“We’re not married to any business model,” Cook stated. “What we’re married to is shipping the best phones in the world.”

Cook also reiterated that Apple is committed to hitting the 10 million iPhones shipped in 2008 target.

On the subject of unlocked iPhones the COO stated that the large number of hacked iPhones around the world was a good problem. The officer stated that he “look[s] at this ‘problem’ with a little bit of a smile. Having people stepping over each other for the phone isn’t a bad thing.”

Cook also touched on the following…

• Apple TV remains a “nichey” product but has “enormous opportunity.”
• The iPod shuffle saw a price cut due to sales dropping 17% globally last quarter.
• The iPhone price cut was to grow the user base and attract developers.
• The upcoming iPhone SDK would let programmers “only be limited by [their] imagination.”
• No further details on the SDK were offered to keep “the element of surprise” for next weeks event.