Region of increasing importance to Apple

The new head of Apple's Latin America division is former Sony Ericsson US and North American region head Anderson Teixeira, a Brazillian-born executive who also served in a similar capacity during his 10 years with the Sony Ericsson joint venture, which is now being folded into Sony's electronics division. Apple has been placing increasing emphasis on Latin America and particularly Brazil as a growing market, increasing its presence there significantly in recent months.

Teixeira, who started at Apple earlier this month, is listed as working in the "Miami/Ft. Lauterdale area," probably referring to the company's office in Coral Gables. Apple has not previously had a formal head of its Latin American division, and the region would likely have fallen under Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller's control if not part of CEO Tim Cook's former COO team.

The designation reflects Apple's interest in expanding its presence throughout the region, which in 2011 included expanding the iTunes Store and Apple TV to the area as well as Foxconn opening an iPad and iPhone production facility in Brazil.

Apple has long had presences in many countries, but has lately been focusing on actively developing markets, especially in terms of iOS sales. During the company's previous analyst conference call, the executive team noted that Brazil alone had increased sales by 118 percent year-over-year, to over $900 million. Cook also singled out Russia and the Middle East as areas ripe for future development behind the leading foreign market for Apple, China.

By Electronista Staff