The recent turn of events in India concerning Apple Inc. indicates a massive increase in the scale of operations in the country. Before Tim Cook’s visit to India last month, Apple made a few big announcements concerning their operations in the country. Earlier this year, the company had applied for a single-brand license, and then in February it announced its plans to set up a tech development center in Hyderabad.
This development center will also have a back-end office. Apple was reportedly in talks with real estate firm Tishman Speyer for a long-term lease of about 2.5 lakh sq. ft. of office space that is meant to accommodate 2,500 employees.
Last month, the company also announced setting up a development accelerator in Bangalore. This center will also provide support to local developers and help them improve and optimize their iOS software.
This paired with Foxconn’s $5 billion investment in India, makes for the biggest success story for the ‘Make in India’ campaign. Earlier, Tim Cook admitted that the high prices of Apple products in the country has been stopping the company from reaching its full potential in the Indian market.
In another attempt to capitalize on an economic device seeking market, the company submitted a proposal to sell refurbished phones in India. But the government rejected it because this would be like dumping waste into the country, and it goes blatantly against the aforementioned campaign.
Once the company gets the license to have single-brand stores in the country, every block of this extensive plan by Apple in the country will set in motion and it won’t be long before people seeking cheap iPhones would have to call their relatives abroad to get an iPhone.
