Tim Cook’s visit to India has been shouldering out Google I/O from the news stories this past week. Tim Cook launched an update to the Narendra Modi Mobile App. He met Airtel chief Sunil Barti Mittal, opened a Maps Center in Hyderabad, and a StartUp accelerator in Bengaluru.  He also had an action-packed first day. Here is what the printed press had to say about Tim Cook’s visit.
Hindustan Times packaged the whole affair as a “Positive Movement” just to ensure no one is confused about the premium segment smartphone maker engaging in a value conscious market. The PM made it clear to Tim Cook that refurbished iPhones were not a priority for India. A senior official told the paper that such a move by Apple would “wipe out” low cost Indian phone manufacturers. According to Hindustan Times, manufacturing in India will not really benefit the manufacturers. Analysts consulted by the paper cite low volume of sales of Apple products, and the price sensitive market as reasons for this.
The Hindu is the only other newspaper with a front page headline for the story, apart from The Hindustan Times. The article revealed a deeper interest by Tim Cook in India to come up with a comprehensive and fine tuned Apple Strategy for India. Cook’s discussion with the Prime minister included security and encryption aspects of the smartphone technologies as well.
DNA had a snippet for the visit, with just a photo by AFP where Narendra Modi is showing Tim Cook his gold iPhone. Tim Cook seemed to be engrossed with something on the screen that Narendra Modi is showing him. Whether this was PM Narendra Modi’s app update, or funny cat photos, is open for speculation.
The Sunday Times also had a photo with a caption on the seventeenth page. Choosing to caption the photo “Facetime,” It showed a similar photo as DNA‘s with PM Narendra Modi talking to Apple CEO Tim Cook while holding a gold iPhone. The paper says Cook briefed Modi on Apple’s plans in India, and there were no indications of starting to manufacture in India. Another piece on a page dedicated to startups, titled Cook the “Newsmaker of the Week.” The report covers Cook’s engagement with local startups, including SweetCouch and UrbanClap.
Mid Day chose to ignore the topic altogether, and had no coverage at all, either of the app update launch, or Tim Cook’s visit.

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