Tim Cook In India & Apple Opens Its First App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru

Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is in India. And that Bollywood selfie has happened on the very first day of Cook’s first visit to India. I wager that this Bollywood selfie  will win huge brownie points for Cook. The next thing he needs to do is get a selfie with a cricket player. He has already scored brownie points with the developer community in India with his selfie.

Cook met with India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi in Silicon Valley last year. Earlier this month the Indian government shot down Apple’s proposal to sell refurbished iPhones in India. It will be interesting to find out Apple’s plans for India. It looks like Cook may have a mixed bag of objectives for Apple’s plans in India. Here are 5 things Cook needs to do in India according to PC World, and the 5 things that should be on Cook’s to-do-list in India according to The Wall Street Journal. The bottom line for Apple is to increase and grow its market share in India. Cook has admitted that India is a huge market for Apple and the question is how will they do that? So far Apple has barely looked at the Indian market and starting now it looks like it is going to be firing on all cylinders to grab a chunk of the Indian market.

One question that is on many people’s mind is this – Is there a possibility that Apple will make its phones in India given the price points of smartphone in the country? Other smart phones in India are typically priced significantly lower than iPhones. Make in India is a strong initiative of Modi’s government and it will be interesting to see if Apple has any plans in that direction. Aligning with Modi’s Make in India campaign is a clear path to success as many India watchers have pointed out.

The news that Apple opened its first iOS app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru is not such a surprise. This is a development in the expected direction of focus and growth for Apple in India. This is a significant step and underscores how Apple wants to tap into the Indian market. It wants to tap into the developer community in India and increase the share of iOs apps that are tailored to the Indian market. Bengaluru is the startup hub of India and “we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world,” said Cook in a press statement.

Cook seems to have the right mix of things to do during his first visit to India that will get the press and people talking. He is currently in Mumbai, where he visited the famous Siddhi Vinayaka Temple and apparently will visit with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. It looks like he has already met Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and his pals.

The most important meeting for Cook is one with Modi in New Delhi, which is where all the loose ends will be tied up I suspect. And if the past trend is any indicator I suspect we can all expect to a couple of selfies of Cook and Modi. And sometimes those selfies are a good indicator if the talks were successful or not. We will have to wait and watch.

By the end of the week we will all have a better idea on how Apple plans to grown in India, which is the second largest market for mobile phones in the world.