In return, Apple may be looking to deploy Apple Pay in Reliance Retail stores
Apple may have entered into an long-term agreement with Reliance Jio. According to a report by Economic Times, Apple CEO, Tim Cook met with Reliance Jio’s executives at Mukesh Ambani’s residence in South Mumbai. Reliance is seemingly looking forward to selling bundled iPhones with Jio’s 4G services though its own sales and distribution network and start a direct sourcing relationship. In return, Apple is looking at a potential deployment of Apple Pay in Reliance Retail stores.
As per the report, the Reliance executives made a pitch about how the partnership would be mutually beneficial to both parties. The pitch talked about how the bundling of iPhones with Jio’s data services could entice customers, all the while boosting the penetration of iPhones in India. Further, Reliance has also expressed its interest in deploying enterprise retail solutions developed by Apple and IBM. Reliance Retail also wants to give Apple devices to its shop-floor employees in order to improve consumer experience. The report adds that Cook has given his in-principle nod to the relationship.
After Apple's quarterly earnings call, Cook had reflected on the rollout of LTE networks in India. He said, “We’ll begin to see some really good networks coming on in India. That will unleash the power and capability of the iPhone in a way that an older network, a 2.5G or even some 3G networks, would not do.” During its quarterly report, Apple saw a revenue decline by 9% as compared to the last quarter, which was contributed to the slowdown of iPhone sales in Apple’s main markets. However, the company saw a growth of 56% in iPhone sales in India during the quarter.
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Shrey Pacheco
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