Apple CEO Tim Cook is learnt to have told Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the company’s first India-made iPhone – the iPhone SE– during a meeting of delegation of American business leaders in Washington on Sunday.
CEO of the Cupertino-based technology giant told the Indian PM of Apple having started production of iPhone SE last month in Bengaluru, where it has also set up a large app-accelerator announced last year that has trained thousands of iOS developers.
Apple is making inroads into India, the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market, where it has a marginal share. The company leads the country’s premium segment, devices priced at Rs 30,000 and above, followed by overall market leader Samsung Electronics. India is important for Apple as growth in the US and Chinese markets slows.
On the software side, Cook is learnt to have told PM Modi that about 740,000 app economy jobs that are attributable to iOS in India, and added that Indian app developers have created almost 100,000 apps for Apple’s App Store – which has grown by 57% in 2016.
Cook was among 21 high-profile chief executives of U.S. corporations attended the gathering in Washington, D.C., including Google’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
PM Modi pitched the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) amendment as not just a sign of his government’s unflinching commitment to reforms, but also an unprecedented exercise that should be a subject of research in American business schools, on Sunday.
He is learnt to have told CEOs India’s growth presented a “win-win” opportunity for both nations, referring to his government’s attempts to improve the business climate.
By Baishakhi Dutta
