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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Krishna N. Das and Tanvi Mehta<\/p>\n
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – U.S. tech giant Apple <AAPL.O> could double or triple investments in India, along with exports, over the next few years, a minister said, as the company opened a second store in the world’s biggest smartphone market after China.<\/p>\n
Apple mainly assembles iPhones in India through Taiwan contract manufacturers but plans to expand into iPads and AirPods, as it looks to cut reliance on China.<\/p>\n
Its iPhones made up more than half of total smartphones worth about $9 billion exported from India between April 2022 and February, data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association shows.<\/p>\n
“I am very confident that this Apple-India partnership has a lot of headroom for investments, growth, exports and jobs – doubling and tripling over coming years,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the deputy minister for information technology, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
His comments came after a meeting on Wednesday with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in the capital, New Delhi.<\/p>\n
Cook, who also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Apple was “committed to growing and investing across the country”.<\/p>\n
He inaugurated an Apple store in New Delhi on Thursday two days after opening its first outlet in Mumbai, the commercial capital.<\/p>\n
“We’ve come here only to see Tim Cook,” said Manika Mehta, 32, an Android phone user who queued at the Delhi store.<\/p>\n
About 500 people had gathered for Cook’s brief appearance, in which he spoke with fans and took selfies, as in Mumbai.<\/p>\n
“My heart was skipping a beat,” said Reeti Sahai, 45, after taking a selfie. “I’m an Apple addict. I’m drawn to Tim Cook, seeing the man he is and the journey.”<\/p>\n
Cook’s visit has drawn extensive media coverage and he has been feted like a Bollywood star, with some people trying to touch his feet in a traditional gesture of respect, while others asked for his autograph.<\/p>\n
Apple has previously faced hurdles in opening physical retail stores in the South Asian nation, but its products have been available on e-commerce websites, while its online store opened in 2020.<\/p>\n
The new stores open as Indian consumers increasingly look to upgrade devices to glitzier models with richer feature sets, from budget versions that typically cost less than $120.<\/p>\n
Still, Apple’s pricey phones are affordable for only a few in India, where it has a market share of just 3%.<\/p>\n
Apple has been trying to make India a bigger manufacturing base. Its products, including iPhones, are being assembled in India by contract electronics makers Foxconn, Wistron Corp and Pegatron Corp.<\/p>\n
In January, India’s trade minister said Apple wanted the country to account for up to 25% of its production versus about 5% to 7% now.<\/p>\n
\n(This story has been refiled to insert Reuters Instrument Code in paragraph 1)<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting By Krishna N. Das; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Clarence Fernandez)<\/p>\n
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