Apple CEO Tim Cook landed in Mumbai late last night to commence his 4-day visit to India. Here’s what he’s going to be up to on his maiden visit.
Cook’s arriving from China, where he spent time talking with the Didi CEO in addition to other industry leaders. Apple had recently made a surprise $1 billion investment in China’s top cab hailing app.
"Taxi!" Caught a cab in Beijing this morning with Didi Chuxing's Jean Liu. pic.twitter.com/Sl2xnzXtNY
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 16, 2016
Cook landed in Mumbai at 11:45 pm on a private jet and will reportedly head to the iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where he’ll be put up at the Grand Luxury Suite. The luxury suite sprawls over 1300 square feet, and costs Rs. 87,000 a night.
On Thursday, Cook will visit Hyderabad where he will unveil an Apple development center for digital maps.
In Bangalore, the Apple CEO is expected to introduce an accelerator program for iOS developers. Cook is expected to be in New Delhi on May 20 and 21 where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Cook’s India visit assumes importance as Apple aims to garner a bigger share of India’s smartphone market. Apple iPhones account for only 2% of sales in India, and the company now wants to grow its India presence. Apple may also try to discuss being allowed to sell refurbished phones in India that the government had recently disallowed. It is also expected that Apple will set up their famed Apple Stores in India in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai by 2017.