Apple to Open $25 Million Technology Development Site in India [Updated]

Apple plans to open a $25 million technology development site that'll span 250,000 square feet in Hyderabad, India, according to ZDNet. The site will open its "innovation center" in June of this year before ramping up to full operations by the end of the year.

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 (150 crore rupees). It is anticipated to create 4,500 jobs for locals. IT majors such as Infosys, Wipro, Microsoft, and Cognizant have already set up their offices in the IT corridor.

ZDNet says the development center will be used to work on maps. Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary to IT in Telangana, the state in which Hyderabad resides, told ZDNet that Apple "has not looked at cities only in India, but across many places in Europe and other parts of the world."

Rajan notes that Apple choosing Hyderabad is a "strong endorsement of the city as a major IT hub in the country." Microsoft also has offices in the city and plans to expand its operations while Google has pledged to open a headquarters in Hyderabad, making it the biggest technology campus in South Asia.

In 2006, Apple opened a massive support center in Bangalore, but closed it shortly thereafter. While Apple keeps most of its design and development within the United States, it does own several research and development sites around the world, including in Israel and Ireland. In late 2014, the company announced that it would open an R&D center in Yokohama, Japan. In January, Apple announced that it would open iOS development centers in Europe, starting in Italy.

On a whole, India is becoming increasingly important to Apple's business. Last July, the company noted that its growth in India was over 90 percent while Apple's sales in the country topped $1 billion in a fiscal year for the first time. Tim Cook has also mentioned that Apple was interested in expanding its manufacturing base in the country. Currently, Apple is close to gaining approval to open retail stores in India.

Update: Apple has confirmed its plans for the site in Hyderabad, saying the center will indeed be focused on maps development and house over 150 employees.

Tags: India, development centers

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Kaibelf

38 months ago

No "political offence" intended, but I don't get Apple's focus on developing countries like China or India. It's like the country's population is the only thing they care about other than if they are the US itself.

Because Apple, like most adults, have accepted that the United States isn't the only country on earth with people who have potential to contribute to the human race.

Rating: 21 Votes

8012R3

38 months ago

Because Apple, like most adults, have accepted that the United States isn't the only country on earth with people who have potential to contribute to the human race.

Contribute what to the human race?

India is "just another untapped market" to Apple. They're not going there out of the goodness of their hearts. It's business.

Rating: 6 Votes

DFZD

38 months ago

That statement is generally correct. But let's not forget that Indians ARE already a major part of the Apple workforce - in the US.

Every Indian who is good enough to go to the US will go to the US. Those left behind will try to go to the UK or Germany. Those left behind are... well... you do the math how good they are. That is not a prejudice. Every Indian will confirm that: The best Indians work abroad. The cheap Indians work in India.

Opening development centers in India is not about accepting the potential contributions of Indians - every tech company is doing that a thousand times over. It's only about sacrificing quality for lowest cost and raw quantity of resources.

More expensive is generally better is the kind of mindset that really brought US to the place where it is now.

You're about to have Donald Trump as your president, your most followed celebrity is Kim Kardashian, your most beloved singer is Kanye West, and your children are shooting each other in schools. Your government accidentally created Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Wake up and smell the coffee. Indians are not just taking your low/mid level jobs, they are heading your companies (MS, Google, Softbank, Pepsi, Adobe, Mastercard, Sandisk) as well.

Rating: 6 Votes

Fzang

38 months ago

Developed in India, Manufactured in China, envisioned in California.

Rating: 4 Votes

diseasedanimal

38 months ago

This is false on so many levels. India's top universities put out huge numbers of extremely talented individuals. Only a small fraction of those are able to get visas to work and stay in the US, Germany, and the U.K.. And a large and increasing number choose not to pursue jobs abroad in the first place. It's indeed prejudiced to imply that the "leftovers" are just that, and dishonest to imply that Indians would support or agree with such a notion.

Rating: 4 Votes

Mums

38 months ago

This is just India forcing Apple to "invest" millions in their country as a bribe in order to get approval to open Apple stores. The money will go into bureaucrats' pockets. India is abysmally corrupt to the core.

Rating: 4 Votes

MentalFloss

38 months ago

Because Apple, like most adults, have accepted that the United States isn't the only country on earth with people who have potential to contribute to the human race.

Rating: 3 Votes

kdarling

38 months ago

In this case, it's probably about cheap English reading workers.

They can use the center to enter all sorts of map data.

Rating: 3 Votes

ApfelKuchen

38 months ago

It's politic for any multi-national to spend money where they earn money. You can't cart it all back to your home nation in a wheelbarrow or hire only people from your home nation and expect the rest of the world to like you - it's all "take"and no "give." "Home" for a multi-national has to become everywhere in the world.

There are smart people, brilliant people, all over the world. Not all of them have the desire or social and economic advantages necessary to travel overseas for school or employment. And, as with money, if you take all the talent and leave none...

So, whether government-mandated or not, corrupt or pure, "fair" tax rates at "home" or not, Apple and companies like it are likely to invest in facilities and people throughout the world. In big nations it'll be in a big way, in smaller nations it'll be harder to see.

Rating: 3 Votes

Kaibelf

38 months ago

First, I am not an American.

Second, I didn't say that more expensive is better. I said that better is better.

Third, I never said that Indians are not good enough. I said that all the good Indians are in the US (where, yes, they are even heading big companies).

So your whole reply to my post is based on weird assumptions and an inability or unwillingness to comprehend what I had written.

And as a sidenote: What brought the US to where it is right now was rather the attitude that cheap and low-quality is good enough. The walmartization of America was not driven by people who thought that "expensive is better". And people who believe that cheap and low-quality is good enough are the ones who open "innovation" centers in India.

As someone who IS American, what brought America to where it is now is the blind thought that America is invulnerable. American Exceptionalism dates all the way back to the horrible manifest destiny days. You yourself said that the best would go to the US, or Europe. What an insult to Indians who choose to stay in their own country. Guess what? None of these poor unwashed nations need your rescue, nor mine. They are perfectly capable of competing and making adult decisions on their own.

And I'll be the first to say that often Americans make idiotic decisions, which just leads to more undesirable outcomes. Then they wring their hands, cry out "How did this happen?!" and demand some compensation for what they think they deserve. It's embarrassing.

Rating: 3 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]