On his maiden visit to India, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday said it was “exactly the right time” to be in the country and the United States firm presence will be for “hundreds” of years.
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“I’m here to learn”, was all Cook said when ambushed by reporters who had waited hours in sweltering heat outside the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai.
Across India, Apple supports over 640,000 iOS app developer jobs and other positions related to the iOS ecosystem.
Guess who else is following Tim Cook’s passage through India closely?
Soon almost two million Reliance Jio-powered iPhones will make it to the India market and you will be able to pick one up if you are a VoLTE fan. His meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top business tycoons are also reportedly on the cards.
Located in the technology hub of Hyderabad, the company says its investment will accelerate Maps development and create up to 4,000 jobs. According to Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, manufacturing of Apple devices in India would be the next logical step to boost the Apple products sales in India.
In addition to Jio-powered iPhones, both the top leaders have also made a decision to deploy an enterprise solution for Relaince’s retail outlets under which the Cupertino-based technology major will provide iPhones and iPads to its shop-floor employees to improve consumer experience.
With a massive 1.25 billion population, including 6 million new Internet users every month, India has become a key focus of companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft. India is also home to content creation, and this is where Apple sees huge potential. In January, Apple had applied to open their own stores in the country.
His visit to India comes at a time when the company’s revenues in the West and China have softened whereas the India figures have been really encouraging. The two have been fighting for supremacy in the premium smartphone segment in India, but the stakes are becoming higher considering that the country is set to overtake the U.S. to become the second-largest smartphone market. The battle has intensified between Apple and Samsung as the iPhone maker is eying India with hopes and Samsung is keeping the competition in mind.
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Cook seemed to be unperturbed. And in the middle of all of this, he’s gotten some work done as well, announcing a new development centre for maps in Hyderabad, and also an app development accelerator in Bengaluru. “The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations”.
