'We share your vision...' says Apple CEO Tim Cook after meeting PM Narendra Modi

"Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India," Prime Minister Modi also tweeted on meeting Apple CEO.

Team Newsable

First Published Apr 19, 2023, 9:58 PM IST | Last Updated Apr 19, 2023, 9:59 PM IST

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, whose company has grand plans to invest more in the world's second-largest smartphone market, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital on Wednesday. Cook had met Modi on his previous visit in 2016 as well.

"Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India's future from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we're committed to growing and investing across the country," he tweeted with a picture of him shaking hands with Modi.

Cook had last visited India in 2016 when the tech giant was just beginning to scale up operations in the country. Apple, which launched its online store in India in 2020, has long wanted physical retail stores in the country. Its original plans for 2021 were derailed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"An absolute delight to meet you, @tim_cook! Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India," Prime Minister also tweeted on meeting Apple CEO.

Apple's new stores in Mumbai and Delhi come at a time when the company is trying to deepen its retail push in India. The company reached a new record of nearly $6 billion in sales for the year ended March 31. India is also home to factories that produce 5 per cent of total iPhones as Apple diversifies its supply chains away from China.

Apple is wooing the Indian market with a promise to double the employment base in the country through its vendors to around 2 lakh gradually. For this, Cook sought government support to widen its components supplier base in India, a government source said.

The source said that Cook has long-term policy stability to foster investments in the country. "He has also asked for support to skill Indian manpower to suit the company's requirement," the source said.

The government has offered Apple to define the skill set and it will support them in facilitating it as it is doing for creating skills at Gatishakti Vishwavidyalaya in collaboration with Boeing and Siemens.

Apple commands a small base of just 4 per cent of India's nearly 700 million smartphone users, which is currently dominated by cheaper local brands, as well as Chinese and South Korean manufacturers. In contrast, Apple did USD 74 billion in sales in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in fiscal 2022. That's about 18 per cent of its total revenue during the period.

Besides the market, Apple is also eyeing India as its manufacturing base as it diversifies away from China, with whom the US has had trade tensions. Its primary manufacturing partner, Foxconn, which oversees a large portion of the assembly of new iPhones in China, is building a $700 million plant for iPhone parts in Bengaluru.

With agency inputs

Also Read: Tim Cook meets Rajeev Chandrasekhar, shares Apple's vision for India's digital journey

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