Is Apple CEO Tim Cook's visit to India a big deal?

With 4G taking its full flight, India's mobile story has just begun. Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent visit to India has been under constant media scrutiny. Cook finds India a great place for 'opportunity seekers' but slow network is preventing tech giants from realising its best potential. Cook discussed the ‘richness' of the iPhone and stressed 4G network as very important and crucial network. Much like a rock star he has been meeting people from all walks of life, be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Bollywood celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.

It would not be wrong to interpret his first visit to the country as a pre-investment assessment plan, rather than as one with a clear-cut investment agenda. While Apple iPhones' sales grew nearly 56 per cent in India in the second quarter of this year from the year ago period, data compiled by market research firm CounterPoint Technology revealed that South Korean smartphone maker Samsung sold more phones in India than Apple in the premium category (Rs.30,000/- and above) in 2015-16.

According to the report, Samsung's share in the premium smartphone segment was 47per cent, while Apple came second at 45 per cent. Cook also met some key telecom players like Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel etc., The latter is one of India's leading telecommunication companies and was the first to launch 4G in India and is set to offer the service countrywide. Being optimistic on India's upcoming 4G revolution, Cook told NDTV that 4G is critical for India's progress; thus setting up the road map for a possible alliance with some big players to help Apple open more retail stores in the country. He also revealed his plans of bringing in India Apple Pay. This is a mobile payment and digital wallet service that lets users make payments through Apple devices, a convenient way to make cashless payments.

Tim Cook’s endeavours in India are giving a push to the idea of India as a manufacturing ground for the global multinational companies and thus, displace China’s status in this category. This has caused a sore nerve in Chinese circle, because they are beginning to see India as their major competitor in providing manufacturing facility to the foreign multinational companies.