Tim Cook is going from one giant Asian nation to another.
After a closely watched trip to China, he will visit India for the first time as CEO of Apple.
Cook is due to arrive in India on Tuesday and spend several days there, according to a person with knowledge of the visit.
Besides Apple employees and business partners, he’s expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been trying to invigorate India’s manufacturing sector and develop the country’s ties to Silicon Valley.
Modi visited with several top tech leaders in September, including Cook and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
In China, Cook’s meetings included execs from Didi Chuxing, an Uber competitor into which Apple just sunk $1 billion.
India represents a much smaller share of Apple’s revenues than China does, but it’s still an important market for the world’s second biggest smartphone maker.
At the end of March, combined sales from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India accounted for 23% of Apple’s total. That compares with 25% from sales in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The tech company has applied to open its own retail stores in India, a growing smartphone market that is home to 1.2 billion people.
India is already a vast consumer market for global businesses, and it’s expected to get even bigger. By 2022, it’s forecast to surpass China to become the world’s most populous country.
But Indians’ average income and spending power are far lower than those of Westerners. A lot of smartphones sell for less than $100 in India, and data plans are affordable for members of the growing middle class.
Apple devices remain very much in the luxury bracket, retailing for many hundreds of dollars. But the high-end part of the market is expected to greatly expand as India’s economy continues to grow.
— Ravi Agrawal contributed reporting.
