“Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi Saturday, the most high-profile engagement yet on Mr. Cook’s dayslong charm offensive in a crucial but challenging market for the company’s growth,” Newley Purnell and Rajesh Roy report for The Wall Street Journal.
“Mr. Cook shared Apple’s plans in India with Mr. Modi and the pair spoke about manufacturing and retailing in the country, a government statement said. Mr. Modi in turn explained his Digital India initiative and sought support from the company in furthering the objectives of the program, which aims to connect hundreds of millions of villagers to the Internet,” Purnell and Roy report. “A senior government official who declined to be named said that Mr. Cook was asked to explore the possibility of setting up a local manufacturing unit in India to meet the growing demand for its products.”
Thank you @tim_cook! Friends, welcome & happy volunteering. Your views & efforts are always enriching. pic.twitter.com/aAu4isv6wM
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2016
Thanks PM @narendramodi for a great meeting. Already looking forward to next visit to India. Best wishes on the app! https://t.co/ctXiKoCiS0
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 21, 2016
“Analysts said Mr. Cook is likely to advocate for Apple’s existing proposal to refurbish and sell secondhand iPhones in the country, which would be key given 70% of smartphones sold last year in India cost less than $150,” Purnell and Roy report. “In addition, Apple in January said it had sought government permission to open its own retail stores and sell products online to supplement Indian-owned distribution firms and retailers.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wonder if Tim enjoyed the crazy hot temperatures?
SEE ALSO:
India shows Apple CEO Cook the love it’s yet to give the pricey iPhone – May 20, 2016
Apple CEO Cook: ‘We are in India for the next thousand years’ – May 20, 2016
Watch Apple CEO Tim Cook at his first cricket game in India – May 19, 2016
Apple opens Maps development office in Hyderabad, India – May 19, 2016
Apple CEO Cook debuts in India – May 18, 2016
Apple to open first-of-its-kind iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in India – May 18, 2016
Tim Cook visits India: Apple to expand its Indian software development center, build local start-up accelerator program – May 17, 2016
Apple Retail Stores to open in India by end of next year – May 16, 2016
iPhone sales surge 56% in India as Apple eats into Samsung’s high-end share – May 8, 2016
Apple deprivileged as India bows to Washington D.C. consensus on mobile phone import tariffs – May 7, 2016
India rejects Apple’s plan to import and sell refurbished iPhones – May 3, 2016
Indian government panel paves way for wholly-owned Apple retail stores in India – April 28, 2016
I would be stunned if Apple were able to acquire even 5% market share in India. Everyone in India will be happily using Android smartphones. Every internet article will declare Apple fighting a losing battle to an unstoppable foe. When investors hear that, more Apple stock dumping will continue.
Major Android market share is all that matters to Wall Street and there’s nothing Tim Cook can do about it. Apple shareholders will continue to take heavy share price losses while the rest of the stock market soars. Tim Cook just doesn’t seem to realize Apple’s tenuous situation.
Apple has a huge market analysis staff and inputs of data I can’t even imagine to define the India market. Almost every tech company in Silicon Valley would trade it position for Apple’s profitability.
I call bogus on “Major Android market share is all that matters to Wall Street” because those Android sellers don’t make but a small fraction of the profits that Apple does on a smaller unit volume. Bingo.
Cook & crew are not going to miss out on that market opportunity. I predict they may even develops a special India iPhone that may contain fewer features and have lower cost as an entry level iPhone for India.
It is very obvious that setting up assembly in India is a long term beneficial concept, given the nearly 1.4 billion people in India. I can see Apple gaining significant market share in the large cities where incomes are larger.
What is Wall Street going to say when Google loses the Oracle case? I imagine Oracle will charge Google $50-$100 per seed. This will substantially increase the price of Android devices. And if Google was smart, they will tack on an extra $50 or so on top of the Oracle fee. What are manufacturers going to do? Will they develop their own competing OS and services?
So, if Oracle wins the case, which looks very likely, expect Android phones to substantially increase in price. This will make the iPhone much more attractive for the consumer that doesn’t understand value.
Google could lose and pay damages, but has likely already recoded API functions independent of Java to avoid further infringement claims.
I doubt I will see an Android price rise.
Does it help to relieve your gloom to see AAPL up on news of Tim Cook talking with India’s PM and other luminaries, lining up deals in person, doing something rather than moping like you? Give that pessimism a breather for once.
What do you get out of trolling and spewing your ignorance at this site dude?
But you’re a troll, who cares what you write.
Stick to commenting on Apple’s tech affairs. Finance is not your forte. It;s quite clear investing and financial analysis is an area you have serious deficiencies in.
“a local manufacturing unit in India”
A manufacturing arm not under the Chinese thumb? Sounds like a good idea to me.
What do you get out of trolling and spewing your ignorance at this site dude?
The day may come when India is the center of Apple’s iPhone manufacturing, or manufacturing for other items.
They have the skills and smarts and workforce, and they are not China.
That’s a very good reason for Tim Cook’s visits. Work with the nation’s leaders on smaller projects, and that could lead to something big.
The arrogance of Tim Cook and Apple are staggering. Shopping around the world for the cheapest labor all while being lavished as royalty yet still trying to be progressive at home.
Hypocritical SJW hubris at it’s best.
Hmmm. Did he get to meet up with Sunny Leone?
India…uggh
Cricket…super uggh
India men with SD……hahaha
I wish to show thanks to you just for rescuing me from this type of incident. Because of scouting throughout the world wide internet and seeing concepts which were not powerful, I assumed my life was done. Being alive without the presence of approaches towards the issues you’ve sorted out by means of this report is a serious case, and the ones which might have adversely affected my career if I hadn’t come across your blog. Your personal skills and kindness in maneuvering the entire thing was critical. I don’t know what I would have done if I had not come across such a thing like this. I can also now relish my future. Thanks so much for your specialized and results-oriented guide. I won’t hesitate to refer your internet page to any person who would require support about this subject matter.