Tag: apple india

Apple Opens New 15-Storey Office in Bengaluru’s Minsk Square, Will House Up to 1,200 Employees

Apple on Wednesday announced it was opening a new office in Bengaluru, as the Cupertino company continues to expand its footprint in India. The new office can house up to 1,200 employees and is located at Minsk Square in the middle of the city. The office will run on 100 percent renewable energy, and the company says the building uses locally sourced materials such as stone, wood, and fabric for its walls and flooring, and has native plants all over the facility. 

The company’s new office in Bengaluru joins three other facilities in Gurugram, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. It is located in the middle of the city, near the Vidhana Soudha, high court, and the Chinnaswamy cricket stadium. Employees will have easy access to public transport as the office is close to the Cubbon Park metro station, according to the company.

Employees at the Bengaluru office will work on a range of Apple’s businesses including — but not limited to — software, hardware, services, information systems and technology (IS&T), operations, and customer support. 

The building is also equipped with a dedicated lap space, along with areas for collaboration and wellness. Apple has around 3,000 employees in India, and the new 15-storey building can house up to 1,200 employees.

Apple says that the new building runs completely on renewable energy and aims to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating. All of the company’s facilities have used renewable energy since 2018, and the company’s corporate operations went carbon neutral two years later.

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iPhone Maker Foxconn Buys Massive Piece of Land in Bengaluru to Diversify Production

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has bought a huge tract of land on the outskirts of Indian tech hub Bengaluru, the key Apple supplier said in a filing Tuesday as it looks to diversify production away from China.

Also known by its official name, Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn is the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer and a principal assembler of Apple iPhones.

Both companies are seeking to diversify away from China, where much of their manufacturing is based, after strict Covid policies in recent years and ongoing diplomatic tensions with the United States hurt production.

The 1.2 million-square-metre (13 million-square-foot) acquisition in Devanahalli, near the airport for Indian tech hub Bengaluru, was announced in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

Its subsidiary Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development was paying Rs. 3 billion for the site, it said.

Another Foxconn unit was acquiring land use rights to a 480,000-square-metre site in Vietnam’s Nghe An province, it added.

Karnataka state chief minister Basavaraj S. Bommai said in March that Apple would “soon” manufacture iPhones at a new plant in the state, creating “about 100,000 jobs”.

Bloomberg News reported that month that Foxconn was planning to invest $700 million (roughly Rs. 5,700 crore) in a new factory in Karnataka the same month, citing unnamed sources.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu visited the state then to “deepen partnerships… and seek cooperation in new areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles”, he said in a statement.

He also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said the pair’s “discussions covered various topics aimed at enhancing India’s tech and innovation eco-system”.

Foxconn has manufactured Apple handsets in India since 2019 at its plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Two other Taiwanese suppliers, Wistron and Pegatron, also manufacture and assemble Apple devices in India.

Apple has been making its own push into India and chief executive Tim Cook last month opened its first two retail stores in the world’s most populous country.

The California-based firm is betting big on the nation of 1.4 billion people — home to the second-highest number of smartphone users in the world, after China.

The world’s biggest company in terms of market value is also expanding its manufacturing footprint in India.

Apple said last September it would manufacture its latest iPhone 14 in India, just weeks after launching the flagship model.

The country last year accounted for seven percent of Apple’s iPhone production, according to Bloomberg, lagging behind the United States, China, Japan and other countries.

Apple’s expanding manufacturing in India is a boost to Modi’s “Make in India” strategy, under which he has urged foreign businesses to manufacture goods in the South Asian nation.

OnePlus recently launched its first tablet in India, the OnePlus Pad, which is only sold in a Halo Green colour option. With this tablet, OnePlus has stepped into a new territory that’s dominated by Apple’s iPad. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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‘India Is at a Tipping Point,’ Says CEO Tim Cook as Apple Stakes Future Growth on Emerging Markets

When Apple surprised investors this week with a rise in iPhone sales despite a slump in the global smartphone market, Chief Executive Tim Cook credited emerging markets like India where the company is luring away Android phone users.

Cook is betting that those markets will provide more opportunities for growth, with their youthful populations and relatively few iPhones.

Apple said iPhone sales rose 1.5 percent to $51.3 billion (roughly Rs. 4,19,100 crore) for its fiscal second quarter even as global smartphone shipments fell 13 percent in January to March, according to research firm Canalys, whose data showed Apple gained market share from Android phones.

Apple said it set sales records in several countries across South Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

“We’re putting efforts in a number of these markets and really see, particularly given our low share and the dynamics of the demographics, a great opportunity for us in those markets,” Cook told investors during a conference call.

India is perhaps Apple’s biggest focus. The company recently opened its first two retail stores there, in Mumbai and Delhi, and while Apple does not disclose revenue for the country, Cook told investors that it set a quarterly record and percentage growth was in very strong double digits year-over-year.

“There are a lot of people coming into the middle class, and I really feel that India is at a tipping point, and it’s great to be there,” Cook said on the conference call.

Apple was the second biggest revenue generating brand in India in 2022, second only to Samsung as it gained 18 percent of the total value of smartphone shipments, according to research firm Counterpoint.

For Apple, selling an iPhone in an emerging market represents more than just the sale of one device – it represents the chance to get consumers hooked on Apple devices and services over time. Customers who start with an iPhone might later add an Apple Watch or AirPods or sign up for subscription services.

Cook said he saw opportunities for Apple in India in services but said that average revenue per user – a metric known as ARPU in the subscription business – would take time to catch up to Apple’s other markets.

Used iPhone boom

Part of the reason that Apple has been able to gain market share in both emerging and developed markets is the emergence of a booming market for used iPhones.

Sales of refurbished iPhones rose 16 percent in volume globally during 2022. India led the growth with a 19 percent jump, according to Counterpoint, with iPhones accounting for 11 percent of secondary smartphone sales in India.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Apple’s Cook said little of Apple’s direct iPhone revenue comes from refurbished devices. However he said the company has tried to bolster the used iPhone market by offering trade-in deals on its iPhones and building them sturdy enough to last several owners.

“We encourage the market and it provides us an opportunity to hit some price points that we would not otherwise play in,” Cook said in the interview.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

OnePlus recently launched its first tablet in India, the OnePlus Pad, which is only sold in a Halo Green colour option. With this tablet, OnePlus has stepped into a new territory that’s dominated by Apple’s iPad. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Apple CEO Tim Cook Concludes His India Visit, Says ‘Can’t Wait to Return’

After a five-day long visit, Apple CEO Tim Cook left India with a note that he can’t wait to return to the country.

The visit of Cook coincided with 25 years of the iPhone maker’s presence in India. Cook arrived in India on Monday. The visit started with the launch of the first official Apple store in Mumbai on April 18 followed by a second in the national capital on April 20.

“What an incredible week in India! Thanks to our teams across the country. I can’t wait to return,” Cook tweeted.

The company has been 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 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 shift to a nearby mall to pave the way for the Apple Store.

Apple started making iPhones in India in 2017 after Cook’s last visit in 2016 with low-cost iPhone SE to suit the requirements of the local market. The company now exports “Made in India” iPhones.

Industry sources estimate that Apple exported iPhones in the range of USD 5-5.5 billion in the just-ended financial year 2022-23.

On his last day of the visit to India, Apple CEO met Bharti Group founder and chairman Sunil Mittal and both of them reaffirmed 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. While expressing their satisfaction on the ongoing long relationship that Apple and Airtel have had, (they) reaffirmed their commitment to work more closely in the Indian and African market,” Bharti Group said in a statement.

On Day 1, Cook visited the richest Indian Mukesh Ambani’s house Antilla 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 arrived in the national capital on the second leg of the visit on Wednesday.

Ahead of the opening of the Apple store at Saket, he visited the mesmerising artistic lanes of Lodhi Art District.

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

The walls of buildings lined up in the entire area don beautiful murals that the city is famous for.

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

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

Looking to replicate what China did to Apple’s business in the last 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India’s massive market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, and potentially make it a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices.

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

As per the sources, Cook has sought government support to widen its components supplier base in India.

Apple CEO is learnt to have also discussed manufacturing facilities and app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru with both ministers.

Like in 2016, Cook again took out 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 in Kanpur during his previous visit.

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

On the last day of his trip, Cook visited some app developers to experience 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, India’s top-rated cricket app, 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 coloured sand that were captured on the iPhone.

Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it’s first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple to Open India’s First Flagship Retail Store in Mumbai Next Month, Delhi Store to Follow Soon: Report

Apple is reportedly planning to open its first flagship India retail store in Mumbai. While there has been no official confirmation about the same from the Cupertino-based tech giant, the flagship store will reportedly open by next month, in April. Apple currently sells its in the country products through partner retail stores throughout India. Earlier this year, it was reported that the company is hiring workers for its retail stores in Mumbai as well as Delhi. Hence, the Apple Delhi store can also be expected to open in the coming months.

According to an Economic Times report, citing two industry executives familiar with the plan, Apple is planning to commence its first flagship store in Mumbai by April 2023. This will be reportedly followed by opening of another Apple flagship store in New Delhi in the coming weeks.

In Mumbai, Apple’s flagship store is expected to be located in the Reliance Industries’ Jio World Drive mall, covering an are of 22,000 sq ft. The Mumbai store will reportedly be a retail landmark on a scale similar retail stores in Los Angeles, New York, Beijing, and Singapore.

On the other hand, the second store in Delhi is said to be 10,000 to 12,000 sq ft in size, and will be located at Select CityWalk mall. This one is expected to launch between April and June.

It was reported earlier this year that the company has started hiring workers across India for the two retail store. The report mentioned Apple’s website displaying over a hundred vacant job positions in India. The retail positions were listed for various locations within the country.

While Apple did not confirm the previous development or the latest buzz, it will not be an exaggeration to say that the company has been doing well in the Indian markets.

In December 2022, Tata Group’s Infiniti Retail announced to become an Apple-authorised reseller in India, setting up over 100 retail stores.

Apple supplier Foxconn has also heavily invested in India. It recently announced to invest more than $200 million (roughly Rs. 1,650 crore) at a facility in Telangana.

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iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus Yellow Variant Now Available for Pre-Booking With Discounts Upto Rs. 15,000

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus were unveiled in a Yellow colour variant earlier this week. Apple added the new colour option to the five original variants that were announced for the smartphones at the time of their launch in September. The company has now started the pre-booking for iPhone 14, iPhone 14 yellow variant from March 10, while it can be purchased from March 14. Both the iPhone 14 models will be available on Apple India site, Amazon, Flipkart as well as retail stores.

Apple introduced the new colour variant for its iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus smartphones on March 7. The yellow colour option for the smartphones has now been added to the already existing five colour variations. However, the company has not announced any new colour options for the high-end iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max devices.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus yellow variant price, availability

According to the Apple India site, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus in yellow colour will be available for purchase starting March 14. Meanwhile, the company has already began the pre-sale booking for both the smartphones. While the pricing for iPhone 14 in yellow variant starts at Rs. 79,990, the iPhone 14 Plus comes at the starting price of Rs. 89,990.

Redington India, one of Apple’s distributors, has announced to sell the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus yellow variant bundled with several discount offers. Interested buyers can get benefits worth Rs. 15,000 with store discounts, instant cashback and exchanging their old iPhones. The smartphone can also be purchased from Apple India site. Meanwhile, Amazon and Flipkart are also offering discount on the purchase of both the smartphones.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus specifications

The specifications of iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus in yellow variant are similar to the other colour options. The iPhone 14 sports a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, powered by Apple’s A15 Bionic SoC. The base variant runs iOS 16 out-of-the-box. It comes packed with a dual rear camera unit which gets a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera, and a 12-megapixel, along with a 12-megapixel TrueDepth selfie camera.

On the other hand, the iPhone 14 Plus features a 6.7-inch display. This smartphone also packs Apple’s A15 Bionic SoC, along with iOS 16 out-of-the-box. The optics are similar to the iPhone 14 model.

 

From smartphones with rollable displays or liquid cooling, to compact AR glasses and handsets that can be repaired easily by their owners, we discuss the best devices we’ve seen at MWC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple Supplier Foxlink Said to Have Halted Production at an Indian Plant After Massive Fire

Apple supplier Foxlink has halted production at its assembly facility in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and evacuated 400 of its employees after a massive fire on Monday, two local government officials told Reuters.

Foxlink makes cables for iPhones. Roughly 50 percent of the machinery at the facility was damaged and half of the building collapsed, said J Ramanaiah, who leads the Disaster Response and Fire Services Department for Tirupati district in the state, where the incident occurred.

Management has estimated damage of Rs. 100 crore at the facility, he said, adding there were no casualties.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An official for Foxlink did not respond to calls.

Meanwhile, a few days back, the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that technology companies like Apple and Google have expanded their phone production in India, which has inspired more US companies to deepen ties in the technology sector with India. 

“I am eager to deepen out ties in the technology sector. The US is advancing an approach called “friendshoring” to bolster the resilience of our supply chains. We are doing this by strengthening integration with our many trusted trading partners-including India. We are seeing progress, as an example, technology companies like Apple and Google have expanded their phone production in India,” Yellen said. 

She made the comments while speaking at the roundtable with US and Indian Tech Business Leaders in Bengaluru in a meeting under the India’s G20 Presidency. 

In fact, Finland’s Salcomp, a supplier to US tech group Apple, was also reportedly looking to more than double its workforce in India to nearly 25,000 over the next 2-3 years, a company executive said earlier this month.

 

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