With iPhone sales slowing down in more mature markets over the globe, Apple CEO Tim Cook is in India on his first ever visit to the country since he took over Apple in 2011. While his predecessor Steve Jobs didn’t see India as a huge market for Apple, Cook’s visit has a lot to do with Apple doing better in India during its first quarterly sales decline in 13 years.
“The LTE rollout in India just really began this year, and so we’ll begin to see some really good networks coming on in India. That will unleash the power and capability of the iPhone in a way that an older network, a 2.5G, or even some 3G networks, would not do,” Cook was quoted as saying in an Economic Times report.
As Tim Cook travels across Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi, here’s all you need to know about his trip.
- Tim Cook arrived in Mumbai after his trip to China on Tuesday night. He will be in the city on Wednesday and will visit Hyderabad on Thursday and will end his trip in Delhi, where he will also meet PM Modi on Saturday.
- The Apple CEO is reportedly staying at the Grand Luxury Suite of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, which costs Rs 87,000 a night, The Economic Times reported.
- Cook kicked off his first day in India with a visit to the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, and was accompanied by Apple India head Sanjay Kaul, The Indian Express reported.
- Tim Cook is also expected to meet Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis during his stay in Mumbai on Wednesday and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday.
- Cook will also unveil a development centre for digital maps in Hyderabad and meet Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao, NDTV reported. And the minister is evidently quite pumped about it:
- The Apple CEO will hold discussions with telecom giants in India, to form partnerships for the sale of devices. Cook is said to be meeting Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal to discuss a strategic tie up.
- He will also meet Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry, Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood and TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran, The Economic Times reported.
- Cook is also expected to discuss development of iOS applications in India and might launch an accelerator for iOS developers in the country, NDTV reported.
- While the Indian government earlier stopped Apple from selling refurbished iPhones in India, it may try to convince Cook to set up Apple manufacturing units in India, as part of Make in India.
Images sourced from Reuters