Apple CEO Meets India PM Modi, Commits to Growth and Investment

Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures during the inauguration of India's first Apple retail store in Mumbai, India, April 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures during the inauguration of India's first Apple retail store in Mumbai, India, April 18, 2023. (Reuters)
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Apple CEO Meets India PM Modi, Commits to Growth and Investment

Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures during the inauguration of India's first Apple retail store in Mumbai, India, April 18, 2023. (Reuters)
Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures during the inauguration of India's first Apple retail store in Mumbai, India, April 18, 2023. (Reuters)

Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Wednesday committed to growth and investment across India in meeting with the country's prime minister, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi.

Cook is on a visit to India this week and inaugurated the iPhone maker's first retail store in the country on Tuesday in Mumbai. Apple will also open a retail store in New Delhi on Thursday.

"We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India's future — from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we're committed to growing and investing across the country," Cook wrote on Twitter and shared a picture of him shaking hands with Modi.

In response, the Indian PM tweeted that it was an "absolute delight" to meet Cook.

"Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India," Modi said.

Cook's visit to India underscores Apple's growing ambitions for the country, where despite having just a 3% market share the company has been expanding iPhone assembly via contract manufacturers, and also boosting its exports.



Apple Still Barred from Selling iPhone 16 in Indonesia Despite Investment Deal, Minister Says

 Used mobile phones including the Apple iPhone are displayed for sale at a shop in Jakarta on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
Used mobile phones including the Apple iPhone are displayed for sale at a shop in Jakarta on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Apple Still Barred from Selling iPhone 16 in Indonesia Despite Investment Deal, Minister Says

 Used mobile phones including the Apple iPhone are displayed for sale at a shop in Jakarta on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
Used mobile phones including the Apple iPhone are displayed for sale at a shop in Jakarta on January 8, 2025. (AFP)

Apple still cannot sell its iPhone 16 in Indonesia despite striking a deal to build a local production facility there, as it has not met domestic content rules, the industry minister said on Wednesday.

Last year, Indonesia banned iPhone 16 sales after Apple failed to meet requirements that smartphones sold domestically should comprise at least 35% locally-made parts.

Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said Apple had struck a deal to build a facility producing its Airtag tracking device on Indonesia's Batam island, close to Singapore, but that still would not count as a locally-made iPhone part.

"There is no basis for the ministry to issue a local content certification as a way for Apple to have the permission to sell iPhone 16 because (the facility) has no direct relations," he said, adding the ministry would only count phone components.

Indonesia's investment minister said late on Tuesday the factory would be worth $1 billion and that it would start operations next year.

Agus, who held two days of meetings with Apple's vice president of global government affairs Nick Ammann, said Apple had proposed "innovative investment" which Indonesia had countered.

Apple has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, a country of about 280 million people, but has since 2018 set up application developer academies.