Roger Fingas
Apple CEO Tim Cook is due to meet with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi later this month during the latter's tour of the U.S. west coast, an Apple spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.
The spokesperson declined to say what the topic of discussion would be, according to India's Economic Times. Three sources for the newspaper indicated that the Prime Minister's Office is still in talks with Apple about an agenda.
Modi may, however, want to persuade Apple to invest in manufacturing and R&D in his country. One Times source suggested that Apple's interest may be in learning about foreign direct investment regulations, with the hope of setting up the region's first Apple Stores.
At present Apple is dependent on third-party resellers, as it doesn't even have a local online store. The company is working to rapidly expand its reseller network, with a particular emphasis on improving iPhone sales. Although iPhone numbers rose 93 percent in India during the June quarter, Apple has had difficulty making headway against Android-based phone makers, in part because phones are often sold in small independent shops that don't fit with the company's normal chain-oriented retail strategy.
In terms of R&D, Apple currently outsources some backend software development to Indian firms like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. A local Apple-run R&D center might send more critical projects in India's direction.
Apple's main manufacturing partner, Foxconn, has pledged to spend $5 billion on Indian factories, but it's not clear if any of them will make Apple products.
During his visit, Modi is also scheduled to meet with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.
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14 Comments
Interesting that this prime minister is considered right-wing. Should be quite a meeting with Cook.
Interesting that this prime minister is considered right-wing. Should be quite a meeting with Cook.
Right-wing, West Wing, chicken wing... it's doesn't matter when there's economic investments at stake. Money is the universal wing for all politicians.
I recently got back from India and noticed a couple of things: Most devices are sold through what looks like the shittiest shacks you have ever seen. very rarely did I see a name branded technology store. Stands on the side of the road with shoddy air-cell signs all over it are distributing phones and plans. Most Indians I saw using iPhones were (relatively) wealthy. But there was a solid even distribution between Android and Apple. Apple does not advertise in the country hardly at all. I never saw an Apple TV ad. I did see one iPhone ad on a billboard near the Bangalore airport. Inside the airport were a couple of rolling billboards with apple logos on them. Never saw an Apple store, nor a place where one would fit in. India has some of the worst infrastructure I have ever seen, with even nice areas having dirt sidewalks, trash piles on the side of the road, and very old roads. Im sure there are plenty of nice parts that have very modern infrastructure, but the vast majority of places don't. It will be hard to sell the concept of an iPhone in a country where proper sewage disposal, trash collection, and clean water are a rarity. India poses a big opportunity, but it will be hard to make inroads. Only the wealthy will have an iPhone. Middle class is not a term used often in India. Funny though, I saw so many hotels and make-shift hospitals with the Apple logo, so there are plenty of people who associate Apple with quality. For now, I only see major cities being the recipients of Apple investment, namely Delhi and Bangalore, maybe Chennai. But right now Apple realizes it will be very hard to establish a premium brand in place that values "just good enough" on a large, generalized scale. I did meet an iCloud developer in the Chennai airport through, so that was cool. My guess is part of this meeting will involve a play by WiPro and Infosys to nail down contracts.
Interesting that this prime minister is considered right-wing. Should be quite a meeting with Cook.
Trust me. The Indian version of 'right wing' is actually left-er than the US 'left wing'. And the indian left wing is just a thinly disguised communists.
Interesting that this prime minister is considered right-wing. Should be quite a meeting with Cook.
All of that is for domestic consumption only. Nothing matters to these guys but money. Tim Cook is meeting Modi for two reasons. India is Apple’s next big thing in terms of both sales and cheap labor. And where does Apple go for cheap labor after India rises like China is doing? Why back to the U.S. of course. By that time there will millions of jobless Americans willing to work and live in factory campuses like Foxconn. What goes around comes around.