Apple to set up app centre in Bengaluru

Mumbai, May 19: Tim Cook is in India and he is mixing business with pleasure, and spirituality.  Mr. Cook’s first visit assumes significance as Apple reported its first quarterly drop in global iPhone sales last month, while its India revenues grew by 56 per cent.

Coinciding with the visit, the company announced an iOS mobile app design centre in Bengaluru, intended to support and accelerate the growth of Apple’s developer community.

In addition, Mr. Cook met mobile app developers in Mumbai. After the conversation, he tweeted, “Great to hear from some of India’s top iOS developers today. Innovative apps and many ideas for the future!” He had breakfast with Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry, before meeting N. Chandrasekharan, CEO, Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest software exporter.

Later, Mr. Cook joined RIL executives Manoj Modi and Sanjay Mashruwala, MD of 4G venture Reliance Jio, for lunch at Antilia, the Ambani residence. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, away in the U.S., was expected to join Mr. Cook for dinner, hosted by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. He also met Sunil Sood, MD & CEO, Vodafone India, India’s second largest telecom services provider.

App developers get a taste

Apple CEO Tim Cook gave an impetus to the iOS community on his India visit, meeting a clutch of them on his first day here.

“From meeting Tim Cook, we feel that Apple is extremely enthusiastic about growing the App ecosystem in India,” said Apurva Roy Choudhury, CEO, Cynapse. “They have a strong roadmap for the future,” he added. Its app, Numerics, is a business dashboard app for iPhone, iPad and Apple watch.