Apple CEO Tim Cook wraps up visit to India, says ‘I can’t wait to go back’

After a five-day long visit, Apple CEO Tim Cook left India with a note that he was looking forward to returning to the country.

Cook’s visit coincided with the iPhone maker’s 25-year presence in India. Cook arrived in India on Monday. The tour began with the launch of the first official Apple Store in Mumbai on April 18, followed by a second in the nation’s capital on April 20.

“What an amazing week in India! Thanks to our teams across the country. Can’t wait to get back,” Cook tweeted.

The Company sells products in India through exclusive Apple Premium Reseller (APR) stores, large-format retail chains such as Reliance Digital, Croma, etc., multi-brand retail stores and through e-commerce platforms.

Apple has over 100 APR stores in India.

One of the APR stores was located in the Select CityWalk mall, which had to move to a nearby mall to make way for the Apple Store.

Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 after Cook last visited in 2016 with a low-cost iPhone SE to meet local market demands. The company now exports “Made in India” iPhones.

Industry sources estimate that Apple exported iPhones in the range of $5 billion to $5.5 billion in the just-ended 2022-2023 fiscal year.

On his final day in India, the Apple CEO met with Bharti Group Founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal and both reaffirmed their commitment to working more closely in India and Africa, the group said on Friday. Bharti.

“Tim Cook and Sunil Bharti Mittal had a one-hour meeting this morning. While expressing their satisfaction on the long and continuing relationship between Apple and Airtel, (they) reaffirmed their commitment to work more closely in the Indian and African market “, Bharti Group said in a statement.

On the first day, Cook traveled to Antilla, the wealthiest Indian house of Mukesh Ambani, for a business meeting and reportedly met other leading industrialists, including Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran.

After opening the first official store in Mumbai, Cook arrived in the nation’s capital on Wednesday on the second leg of the visit.

Before the opening of the Apple Store in Saket, he visited the fascinating artistic alleys of the Lodhi Art District.

“Delhi’s Lodhi Art District is a remarkable public space. Kudos to the St+art India Foundation and so many amazing artists for capturing Indian life so well. And thanks to Dattaraj Naik for showing me how you design your murals on iPad,” 1-year-old 62 Cook tweeted.

The walls of buildings lined up throughout the area bear beautiful murals for which the city is famous.

During his trip to Delhi, Cook met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the iPhone maker seeks to invest more in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

According to government sources, the iPhone maker is expected to soon double the employment base of its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh.

Seeking to replicate what China has done to Apple’s business over the past 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India’s massive market with a growing middle class to fuel sales growth and make it potentially a base for the production of millions of Apple devices.

During his visit, Cook met with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

According to the sources, Cook has sought government support to expand its component supplier base in India.

It is learned that the Apple CEO also discussed the manufacturing facilities and application design and development accelerator in Bengaluru with the two ministers.

As in 2016, Cook once again took the time to watch an IPL cricket match. He spent his evening in Delhi watching an 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 at Kanpur during his previous visit.

“Thank you very much for an unforgettable evening!” Cook retweeted Ahuja’s tweet in which she shared her photo.

On the last day of his trip, Cook visited app developers to learn about 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 had the pleasure of meeting Hitwicket, the top rated cricket app in India, Prayoga, an AR-based yoga app, and LookUp, an easy-to-use dictionary app,” Cook tweeted.

He also shared his experience of “rangoli and kolam designs” made of flower petals, rice and colored sand that were captured on the iPhone.

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