Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday met Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel at its office.
Industry sources said that their meeting at Bharti Airtel’s office lasted an hour and top officials of Airtel including Gopal Vittal, managing director and CEO (India & South Asia) were also present.
Kavin Mittal, founder and CEO of Hike messenger, also made a presentation to Tim Cook.
Tim Cook had earlier pitched on the importance of 4G networks across the country to boost the sale of Apple iPhones.
Speaking on the importance of 4G, Tim Cook earlier told TV news channel NDTV: “You will see a reliable signal quality after 4G which is critical for India’s progress.”
“We are planning to bring Apple Pay to India,” Tim Cook added. Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service that lets users make payments through Apple devices.
“There is nothing like having customers telling neighbors you should buy Apple products. Word of mouth is the best marketing,” Tim Cook observed.
India’s biggest mobile operator Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are set to roll out commercial 4G services across the nation this year.
According to a recent report by global investment advisory CLSA, IndiaÂ’s 3G and 4G subscribers have tripled to 120 million in 24 months but as affordability increases, the market will expand to 300 million by March 2018.
These 300 million subscribers will account for 60 percent of sector revenues. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, the only operators with pan-India 4G spectrum in 2,300 MHz, will lead this opportunity.
“We expect total smartphone numbers to rise from 220 million at present to 350 million by March 2018, of which 210 million will be 4G, thus smartphone penetration is unlikely to be a constraint,” the report added.
The report said network speeds too are on the rise led by aggressive 3G and 4G rollouts by operators, and availability of relevant content is multiplying, thus mass adoption of 3G and 4G services appears mainly constrained by current data pricing.
Earlier, Tim Cook who arrived in New Delhi after watching an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Kanpur on Thursday, began the Delhi leg of his four-day India visit with a call at his corporate office where he was greeted by Apple India employees.
Defying the scorching heat, Cook later on Friday afternoon visited an Apple store situated at DLF Galleria, Gurgaon.
IANS
