After a five-day long trip, Apple CEO Tim Cook left India with a note that he couldn’t wait to return to the country.
Cook’s visit coincides with the iPhone maker completing 25 years of presence in India. Cook reached India on Monday. The journey began with the launch of the first official Apple Store in Mumbai on April 18, followed by the launch of the second store in the national capital on April 20.
“What an incredible week in India! Thank you to our teams across the country. I can’t wait to get back,” Cook tweeted.
The company is selling products in India through exclusive Apple Premium Reseller (APR) stores, large format retail chains like Reliance Digital, Croma, etc., multi-brand retail stores and e-commerce platforms.
Apple has more than 100 APR stores in India.
One of the APR stores was located in Select CityWalk Mall which had to be relocated to a nearby mall to pave way for the Apple Store.
Apple began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with the low-cost iPhone SE tailored to the needs of the local market, following Cook’s last visit in 2016. The company now exports “Made in India” iPhones.
Industry sources estimate Apple to export iPhones worth between US$5-5.5 billion in the recently concluded financial year 2022-23.
On the last day of his visit to India, the Apple CEO met Bharti Group founder and chairman Sunil Mittal and the two reiterated their commitment to work more closely in India and Africa, Bharti Group said on Friday.
“Tim Cook and Sunil Bharti Mittal had an hour-long meeting this morning. Expressing their satisfaction at the long-standing relationship between Apple and Airtel, (they) expressed their commitment to work more closely in the Indian and African markets. Confirmed,” Bharti Group said in a statement.
On the first day, Cook went to Antilla, the home of richest Indian Mukesh Ambani, for a business meeting and is said to have met other top industrialists, including Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
After opening the first official store in Mumbai, Cook reached the national capital on Wednesday on the second leg of the visit.
Ahead of the inauguration of the Apple Store in Saket, he visited the mesmerizing artistic lanes of Lodhi Art District.
“Delhi’s Lodhi Art District is a remarkable public space. Congratulations to St+Art India Foundation and the many wonderful artists for portraying Indian life so powerfully. And thank you to Dattaraj Naik for showing me how you can do this on your iPad.” How to design murals,” 62-year-old Cook tweeted.
The buildings lined up throughout the area have beautiful murals on the walls for which the city is famous.
During his Delhi visit, Cook met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the iPhone maker looks to invest more in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.
According to government sources, the iPhone maker may soon double the employment base at its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh.
In an attempt to replicate what China did to Apple’s business over the past 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India’s huge market, which has a growing middle class to power sales, and potentially It can be made a domestic base for the production of millions of Apple devices.
Cook met Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajiv Chandrashekhar during his visit.
According to sources, Cook has sought support from the government to expand its components supplier base in India.
The Apple CEO is also understood to have discussed manufacturing facilities and app design and development accelerators in Bengaluru with both the ministers.
Like in 2016, Cook again found time to watch IPL cricket matches. He spent his evening in Delhi watching the IPL cricket match with Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla and others. Cook had watched an IPL cricket match with Shukla in Kanpur during his last visit.
“Thank you very much for an unforgettable evening!” Cook retweeted Ahuja’s tweet in which he had shared his photo.
On the last day of his visit, Cook met some app developers to get a feel for their technology.
“It’s great to see so many developers across India pursuing their passion and sharing their ideas with users around the world. I’ve been inspired by India’s top-rated cricket app HitWicket, AR-based yoga app Prayag and Lookup. Nice to have. Easy-to-use dictionary app,” Cook tweeted.
She also shared her experience of “Rangoli and Kolam designs” made of flower petals, rice and colored sand, which were captured on iPhone.
