Technology giant Apple is reportedly all set to open its first technology development centre outside the United States in Hyderabad. According to a report in Zdnet, "The new centre will be built on 250,000 square feet of land in the real estate firm Tishman Speyer's WaveRock facility at Hyderabad's IT corridor at a cost of $25 million (Rs 150 crore)."
The facility is expected to create 4,500 jobs in the city. A senior Telangana bureaucrat confirmed the interest of Apple to locate its IT operations in Hyderabad, but downplayed the matter saying the talks were at an early stage.Sources at the development commissioner for the SEZ also confirmed to ET the talks with Apple. "The Apple team made a presentation on January 12 on their proposed investment plans. They are slated to meet the SEZ officials during the second week of February to take the matter forward," said a person in know of the development.
Apple's much-famed stores too are all set to come to India. The recent confirmation came from none other than the Cupertino giant's CEO Tim Cook. At a recent town hall with Apple executives, Cook reportedly said that Apple is in early preparations to bring its retail stores to the country.
According to a report in 9to5mac, Cook called India one of Apple's "most important growth areas for the next decade." According top the news report, "He menitoned that 4G LTE networks are not in every emerging market, and this gives Apple the opportunity to push its latest devices to regions like India."
In the days following Apple's Q1 earnings announcements, CEO Cook and other top executives held a town hall meeting at the company's Infinite Loop headquarters to reveal new announcements.
Cook fielded a range of questions from the the audience including on attempts at reducing concerns related to the company's iPhone dependence, porting of more Apple services to Android, growth in India and releasing cheaper iPhones to expand reach in the growing markets. Earlier this month, during its first-quarter earnings call, CEO Cook said that Apple will continue to invest in India despite global slowdown and currency fluctuations.
India continues to report over 7 per cent GDP growth, but its momentum has weakened and the country's growth is well "below trend", says a Deutsche Bankreport. According to the global financial servicesmajor, India's GDP and gross value added (GVA) grew by 7.3 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively in October-December 2015, reflecting a slowing growth momentum from the first half of this fiscal. "India's growth is well below trend, irrespective of the over 7 per cent growth reported as per the national accounts data," Deutsche Bank said in a research note. According to data of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the economy is expected to grow at a 5-year high of 7.6 per cent in the current fiscal. The CSO data showed that the economy grew at 7.6 per cent in the first quarter, 7.7 per cent in second and 7.3 per cent in third. "We find it difficult to make sense of the current GDP data, with ground reality and high frequency indicators such as IP, PMI, CMIE capex, business and employment surveys indicating a much weaker cycle," the report added. It noted that though growth momentum has slowed in the second half of this fiscal year and that investment recovery remains anemic, support to growth is mainly coming from private consumption and this is likely to be the growth driver going forward as well. "We maintain our GVA growth forecast for FY16 at 7.3 per cent, while raising the GDP forecast to 7.5 per cent...," the report said, adding "we are however not changing our FY17 GDP growth forecast of 7.5 per cent, which in our view is subject to downside risks." The global brokerage firm said RBI will consider all the nuances in the national accounts data and will find enough justification to cut rates, once the Union Budget is out of the way in end-February.
Shortly after the launch of the new Desire 728 and Desire 626 dual SIM smartphones in India, HTC has announced a price cut. Both the smartphones are now cheaper by Rs 1,000. The Desire 728 Dual SIM and Desire 626 Dual SIM now cost Rs 16,999 and Rs 13,999 respectively.
The 5.5-inch HTC Desire 728 smartphone is powered by 1.3GHz octa-core MT6753 processor with 2GB RAM and Android 5.1-based HTC Sense. It sports a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and 5MP front-facing camera. Packed with 2,800mAh battery, the handset comes with 16GB internal storage and users can expand storage up to 2TB by microSD card.
On the connectivity front, HTC Desire 728 supports 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and A-GPS. HTC Desire 728 smartphone sports BoomSound front stereo speakers.
On the other hand, the Desire 626 Dual SIM sports a 5-inch 720p HD display and runs a 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB ROM, support for up to 32GB expandable storage and 2,000 mAh battery.
Other specs of the Desire 626 are similar to that of the bigger Desire 728 model.
ZF TRW, which deals in driveline and chassis and passive safety technology, has announced a joint venture with Brakes India Limited. The firm, through its joint venture, has won the first business award for its Electric Park Brake (EPB) system in India.
The production of the new technology, which will be the first for India, will start in in 2017.
In addition to providing park brake functionality, this new technology is a fully integral part of the brake system. It has features such as dynamic actuation and brake-pad-wear sensing and reduces the degradation associated with mechanical systems. The EPB also helps to enhance safety in emergency situations with full four-wheel anti-lock functionality versus standard park brake that provides emergency braking only on the rear axle.
The standard EPB and integrated EPB removes the requirement for a separate Electronic Control Unit (ECU) due to its integration with the Electronic Stability Control system. This can make the technology more suitable for smaller vehicle segments.
"India will continue to be dominated by small cars with rear drum brakes. The offering of a front EPB opens up a wealth of opportunity regarding EPB installation due to its packaging and performance benefits," said Badri Vijayaraghavan, executive director, Business Development, Brakes India.
