Apple CEO Tim Cook is said to visit India this week, according to a latest report from Reuters. Cook will meet PM Narendra Modi as per two sources familiar with the matter.
Cook was in China as Apple invested a whopping $1 billion in ride hailing service Didi Chuxing. As per the report he will visit India this week following his visit to China. The company has been targeting India which is an important market which is the reason why it is aggressively entering the country. Apple is close to getting DIPP approval for opening single brand retail stores in India and recently the DIPP panel has recommended to exempt the company from 30% sourcing condition for retail stores. Last month, it was reported that Apple is evaluating investment options in the country.
Apple recently appointed Sanjay Kaul as head for Indian operations and earlier this year, the company merged its product division and split the business into two in order to align it with the retail strategy. Apple recently became the fastest growing smartphone vendor in India in Q1, 2016, according to Canalys report. The company recorded 56% growth in iPhone sales YoY in India in FY Q2 2016. Earlier this month government of India has rejected Apple’s request to sell refurbished iPhones in the country.
Cook had earlier met PM Narendra Modi in September last year when he had a positive response to set up manufacturing unit in India. Earlier this month, it was reported that Foxconn is nearing a deal to set up $10 billion iPhone manufacturing plant in Maharashtra, India.