Apple's online launch is a symbol of success for FDI in single-brand retail, though there's no indication of how much the Silicon Valley major would invest in the country.
Local residents say until about two months ago, this board carried the name of Motorola, which once had a manufacturing unit in Sriperumbudur, 40-odd km from Chennai in Tamil Nadu. In May 2020, Luxshare Precision Industry Co, a China-headquartered AirPods and iPhone assembler, had entered into a deal with the Tamil Nadu government to take over the defunct Motorola unit.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday ordered a detailed probe against technology major Apple for alleged unfair business practices with respect to its App Store. In a 20-page order, the watchdog said that Apple's App Store is the only channel for app developers to distribute their apps to iOS consumers which is pre-installed on every iPhone and iPad.
The new online store, which will be launched on September 23, will provide customers with the same premium experience found in Apple Store locations around the world, delivered by online team members who are ready to offer their expertise, Apple said in a statement.
Apple Inc is expected to produce iPhones worth $12 billion (freight on board value) in India during 2023-24, according to discussions between the company's vendors and the government. This would account for around 12 per cent of Apple's global iPhone production-higher than the earlier plan of shifting around 9 per cent of the total to India by FY24, which is the third year of the PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme.
Apple's three vendors in the country have hit the milestone of creating 30,000 new direct jobs since the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices kicked off in April 2021. Based on the government's estimate that one direct job in the electronics industry helps to generate three indirect ones, Apple's vendors, Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron, are close to creating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. The direct jobs that the vendors have created account for a fourth of Apple's commitment to generate 60 per cent of the new direct jobs out of the 200,000 jobs targeted by the government under the PLI scheme within five years.
India's smartphone market grew by three per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in volume in the third quarter (Q3) of calendar year 2024, while its value surged by 12 per cent Y-o-Y to reach an all-time record for a single quarter, according to a report by research firm Counterpoint. The value growth was driven by an ongoing premiumisation trend, while the increase in volume was driven by an earlier onset of the festival season compared to the previous year.
rediffGURU Chandrakant Lahariya tells you how to lower your blood sugar levels and manage your diabetes.
Superheroes, snowmen, freedom fighters, Sukanya Verma lists everything the OTT channels have to offer this week.
Sports films have their own unique charm, but those centered on the Olympics and Olympians stand apart, depicting unparalleled tales of grit, guts, gumption, and glory.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
Recently, Apple did two things differently. First, it entered video streaming sector with cheaper options and second it has opened up its OTT service for non-Apple users too.
From Star Wars to Santa to Alia Bhatt, OTT has a variety of entertainment to offer for all ages this week. Sukanya Verma lists her recommendations.
The company captured just 2.4% of the mid-range smartphone market in India, a far cry from the 24.2% share Oppo's F3 commanded.
'If tech giants like Amazon, Google, Apple and Meta enter the IPL broadcasting arena, it could further revolutionize sports media in India.'
Apple has been facing consumer uproar and a slew of lawsuits after it admitted to reducing performance of older iPhones to prevent unexpected shutdowns.
Technology giant Apple has informed its customers in India that it will no longer store their card information on file and will not be accepting payments made by debit cards and credit cards for purchases or subscriptions on the App store or other Apple services. The decision has been taken by the US-based company in view of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) card data storage guidelines, which will kick in from July 1. The deadline for implementing these norms was extended twice.
Two of Apple Inc's global vendors -- Wistron and Foxconn (through Han Hoi), which already manufacture Apple phones in India -- and a third entity, Pegatron, which will be setting up a new plant, have applied to the government to be eligible under the PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturers.
Making the Pixel 8 in India will not necessarily bring the price down -- witness iPhones made in India that are more expensive than those in the US and Dubai.
The deal, which will kick in after the holiday season, in January, will give Apple more visibility among online buyers in India. The partnership could help Apple take on Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, which has become one of the leading player in the premium smartphone market thanks to Amazon.
Analysts tracking Apple said the India results were glimpses of what the company could achieve in emerging markets with a right pricing strategy for its products and local manufacturing.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday questioned Amazon's announcement of $1 billion investment in India, saying the US retailer was not doing any great service to the Indian economy but filling up for the losses it had suffered in the country. He said that their huge losses in India "smells of predatory pricing", which is not good for the country as it impacts crores of small retailers.
According to research firm Counterpoint, Apple was one of the fastest-growing brands in India during the December quarter. This was driven by multiple price cuts on its XR device, thanks to local manufacturing in India, it had said. It added that the rollout of new iPhones (11 series), aggressive pricing and a good channel strategy was helping Apple gain market share in India.
Apple was a fringe player in all key categories like smartphones, notebooks, and tablets till recently. But with the last quarter's record-breaking performance, the brand has established itself in the country's price-sensitive consumer electronics market.
Seven months after it was launched in India, Apple is expected to start manufacturing the iPhone 13 at the Foxconn plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai from April, according to sources. The phones will be for both the domestic and export market. The production of the iPhone 13 in the Chennai plant was meant to start from January but had to be postponed after Apple suspended production following protests in December by women workers about food poisoning. An Apple spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail query.
Rohit & Co. eye better batting show against USA
iPhone sales in India were up by 56 per cent during the period.
'If you are watching cricket and don't want to leave the screen, you could check the menu and order through Zomato (or any other app) from a small part of your screen. That is what we are working towards.'
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing assembly polls in the two states.
From new and competitively-priced iPhones to slashing prices of its older models, it had a multi-pronged strategy.
Rising prevalence of work-from-home and e-learning is driving sales of notebooks and tablets for most brands, but Apple's superior performance has more to do with its product quality.
India's premier batter Virat Kohli arrived in New York on Friday for the T20 World Cup, five days after his other team members but it is still not clear if he would be playing the warm-up game against Bangladesh on Saturday.
The new iMac, two iPads and iPhone 12 and 12 Mini will be open for ordering starting April 30, just like in the US, the UK, China and Japan.
Sources say Apple is currently looking for a professional who can advise the company in dealing with the government.
Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone 5, has made it to Indian markets 42 days after its US launch.
Apple and Samsung are international players and should work as a team with domestic companies to transform India into a global powerhouse: IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Have you wondered how many days of work -- depending on your net monthly income -- you would have to put in to buy the top-end iPhone 16 Pro?
It had requested the government to grant it 15 years of duty-free import of components to assemble its iPhones in the country, sharing a road map to slowly indigenise products.
"We are investing in India... We've already launched an app accelerator centre. That's on top of working with the channel and looking at expanding our go-to-market in general," Cook said during the company's third quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
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