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Chinese handset maker <keyword id="1731609" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oppo">Oppo</keyword> suspended operations at its Greater Noida factory after six of its employees employees tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday. It has no plans to resume operations till the time it completes screening of all 3,000 employees at the plant. The Chinese handset manufacturer, along with others like Vivo, had resumed the operations on Friday after it got permission from the UP government to open up the factory with around 30% of its workforce That's approximately 3,000 out of its 10,000-strong staff in Kasna, Greater Noida. "We have been asked not to come to the factory as six COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at our manufacturing unit in Greater Noida. The company has asked us to stay at home till further notice," an OPPO worker told IANS on the condition of anonymity. The company has sent samples of all employees who have to join work for coronavirus testing. "As an organisation that places the safety of all employees and citizens at the forefront, we have suspended all operations at our manufacturing facility in Greater Noida and initiated the COVID 19 testing for over 3,000 employees, for which results are awaited," Oppo said in a late night statement on Sunday. Oppo said it will only allow employees with negative test results to resume office following all safety protocols. "We are undertaking stringent measures to keep the employees safe and disinfecting the premises," the statement said. (With PTI and IANS inputs) SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/lockdown-4-0-india-issues-new-guidelines-allowing-states-to-decide-the-red-green-and-orange-zones/articleshow/75790707.cms">Lockdown 4.0 ⁠— India issues new guidelines allowing states to decide the red, green, and orange zones</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/petrol-and-diesel-get-more-expensive-in-odishapetrol-and-diesel-get-more-expensive-in-odisha/articleshow/75784329.cms">Petrol and diesel get more expensive in Odisha as government hikes value-added tax</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/uber-ride-in-gurgaon-of-driver-seat-in-plastic-goes-viral-on-tiktok-and-instagram/articleshow/75771489.cms">Video of an Uber ride is all the rage on TikTok and Instagram ⁠— the driver got himself a cockpit covered in plastic</a>

OPPO has no plans of opening its Greater Noida factory until all 3,000 employees have been screened for coronavirus

(Eds: Adding more info) New Delhi, May 18 () Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has suspended operations at Noida factory after its six workers were found to be infected by coronavirus, a senior Gautam Budh Nagar police officer confirmed on Monday.The company had resumed operations on Friday with screening of all employees who were asked to join the work.Based on the information available with the Gautam Budh (GB) Nagar police, the officer told that six workers at the Noida plant of Oppo have been tested covid-19 positive.When contacted, Oppo India said that the company had obtained permission from the state authorities to resume production, following the MHA directive."As an organisation that places the safety of all our employees and citizens at the forefront, we had not only undertaken COVID-19 tests for all employees at the manufacturing facility in Greater Noida but also suspended all operations at the plant. We are undertaking stringent measures to keep the employees safe," the company said in a statement.Oppo also said that it has started screening more than 3,000 workers who have to join work and also approached the government for the test.There have been total 255 coronavirus positive cases in GB Nagar as on Sunday.Till Saturday, 4,738 samples were collected from all across the GB Nagar district, comprising Noida and Greater Noida. PRS BALBAL

Six workers at Oppo Noida factory tested covid positive; company suspends operation

<keyword id="897477" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Office-Market">India office market</keyword> remained strong in the second quarter of 2016, with 10.4 million sq ft of <keyword id="1632341" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Office-absorption">office absorption</keyword> adding to about 19.2 million sq ft Year-to-date (YTD). 
 
The percentage for this increase in office absorption was 18% increase QoQ, in which Bangalore turned out on the top place, contributing a 30% share. The start-up capital of the country was followed by NCR (21%), Hyderabad (20%), Chennai (15%), Mumbai (8%), Pune (5%) and Kolkata (1%) in the list. 
 Out of the leading transactions, a major one was <keyword id="3495922" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="TCS-expansion">TCS expansion</keyword>, because of which it leased over 4,00,000 sq ft in Noida and 3,75,000 sq ft in Bengaluru. Similarly, IBM and Value Labs expanded their footprint in Hyderabad, and took about 3,00,000 sq ft and 2,20,000 sq ft of space on lease, respectively, in the Western suburbs, thus contributing to the rise in office absorption. 
 
Talking of Noida, leading mobile manufacturers like Vivo Mobile and Oppo Mobile contributed in its newfound position as an Electronic manufacturing hub. While Vivo took up 2,50,000 sq ft of space there, Oppo took up 1,60,000 sq ft. 
 
"At the macro economy level, couple of concerns were raised in Q2 2016, such as uncertainty in direction of monetary policy on account of recent change in leadership at RBI and international happenings such as BREXIT. Although, both these changes were unexpected, the impact on the business outlook in India is likely to be miniscule. However, in last couple of months, increased input costs contributed to the softer growth rate recorded in manufacturing production and services activity. Owing to this, we ought to alter our strong outlook for office market a little and expect marginal improvement in leasing activities for rest of the year. New supply is likely to remain restricted in most of the cities which will put an upward pressure on asking rents in preferred micro markets", Surabhi Arora, Senior Associate Director of Research at Colliers India, told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/property-/-cstruction/office-absorption-records-18-jump-qoq-colliers-report/articleshow/53224358.cms">ET</a>. 
 
<a href="http://www.hocacapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/modern-new-office-building-1920x1080.jpg">Image source</a>

Office absorption jumps 18% QoQ, Bangalore tops the charts

<ul><li>Domestic mobile brand Lava on Saturday said it has resumed production at its manufacturing facility in Noida with over 20% production capacity.</li><li>Nearly 600 employees of its 3,000-strong workforce are now back at the factoryNearly 600 employees of its 3,000-strong workforce are now back at the factory.</li><li>The company has arranged special buses for the transportation of its employees.</li><li>All major smartphone players like Samsung, Vivo, OPPO and Realme resumed limited operations in the Noida-Greater Noida manufacturing belt from May 8.</li></ul>Domestic mobile brand Lava on Saturday said it has resumed production at its manufacturing facility in Noida with over 20% production capacity. Nearly 600 employees of its 3,000-strong workforce are now back at the factory after the company received an approval from the state authorities. "We welcome government's move to permit mobile phone companies to resume operations. Though we might face some challenge due to the delayed availability of manpower and materials, we have sufficient inventory to maintain the pace of our production for the initial period," said Sanjeev Agarwal, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Lava. The company has arranged special buses for the transportation of its employees. Lava is also encouraging employees to practice basic hygiene and social distancing, both inside and outside the company's premises. Some other stringent measures that the company is taking to ensure the safety of it workers include regular health check-ups, fumigation and sanitization of its premises. "We are also expecting our components partners to open their factories soon. Meanwhile, we have accelerated our efforts towards the localization of components to reduce our dependency on other countries," said Agarwal. All major smartphone players like Samsung, Vivo, OPPO and Realme resumed limited operations in the Noida-Greater Noida manufacturing belt from May 8. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hcl-tech-follows-tcs-and-infosys-lead-says-50-of-its-employees-will-work-from-home-even-after-the-lockdown-is-lifted/articleshow/75593968.cms">HCL Tech follows TCS and Infosys' lead — says 50% of its employees will work from home even after the lockdown is lifted</a>

Lava resumes operations at Noida factory with 600 employees

(Eds: Adds stats on samples, Oppo and Vivo's statement) Noida (UP), May 18 () Thirty-one people tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar on Monday, pushing the total number of coronavirus cases to 286 in the district, officials said. Nine of the new patients are workers of Chinese phone maker Oppo and two construction workers at a factory site of its sister-concern Vivo in Greater Noida, the officials said. Eight of the Oppo workers are locals, while one is from Ghaziabad, they said. Also, 15 contacts of a 39-year-old man, who works at a media firm in Noida Sector 16A and was detected with the infection on May 15, have been found positive on Monday, District Magistrate Suhas L Y said. "The man lives in Delhi's Laxmi Nagar but works at Zee Media office in Sector 16A Noida. He was found COVID-19 positive on May 15. His 51 contacts were tested at Max Lab in Delhi. His 15 contacts, who are employees in the same organisation, residing in Gautam Buddh Nagar have tested positive," the DM said in a statement. Another 13 contacts of the man who reside in Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon have tested positive for coronavirus and the administrations of their respective districts were doing the needful, as per protocols. Among other patients are five contacts of a man from Sector 5 Harola village, who was earlier detected with the infection and a 40-year-old woman from Sector 78 Noida, he said. "Total 1,679 test results were obtained on Monday of which 1,648 were negative and 31 positive. Total 286 positive cases have been recorded so far. Three patients were discharged on Monday, taking the number of recoveries so far to 194 and active cases are 87," according to the statement. Guatam Buddh Nagar adjoining Delhi in western UP has so far recorded five deaths -- all males aged above 60, according to officials. The number of samples collected till Monday stood at 8,245, according to the official statement. Oppo has got 3,321 employees tested for COVID-19 at a private lab in Gurgaon, Haryana and result of 1,581 of them have been sent to the health department, Gautam Buddh Nagar, while others were awaited, it stated. Vivo got 18 employees tested at a private lab in Gurgaon, Haryana and 16 of them resulted negative, while two positive, the administration said. Specific areas of the premises of Oppo and Vivo in Greater Noida and Zee Media office in Noida have been sealed for sanitisation work, according to the statement. A Vivo spokesperson said, "No Vivo employee has tested positive till date and we are taking all precautionary measures adhering to all government guidelines." "Our current operational factory, 15 kms away from the construction site, is running at 30 per cent of its capacity as per the norms stated by Greater Noida authorities," the spokesperson added. Oppo said in a statement that it places the safety of all its employees and citizens at the forefront. "We had not only undertaken COVID-19 tests for all employees at the manufacturing facility in Greater Noida but also suspended all operations at the plant. We are undertaking stringent measures to keep the employees safe," the company said Oppo also said that it has started screening more than 3,000 workers who have to join work and also approached the government for the test. KIS TDS RHL

31 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar, total rises to 286

Noida (UP), May 21 () Nine more people, including two employees of a Chinese phone manufacturing firm, tested positive for coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar on Thursday, as COVID-19 cases in the district crossed the 300-mark, officials said. Also, two patients were discharged after they recovered from the disease, taking the number of active cases in the district to 88, the officials said. District Surveillance Officer Sunil Dohare said 45 test results were obtained from the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) and 21 from the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB) on Thursday, while others were from private labs. "One result from the GIMS and two from NIB were found positive, while six from private laboratories were also found positive," he said. The senior doctor said five employees of phone-maker Oppo have tested positive for coronavirus and two of them are residents of Gautam Buddh Nagar, while one is from nearby Mathura district and two hail from Bihar. The locals have been counted among the new patients in the district, he added. "Nine people including two employees of Oppo have tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and total positive cases till date stand at 302. Two were discharged and total 209 patients have been cured so far. There are 88 active cases now," the officer said in a statement. Among the new patients, four are from Noida, three from Greater Noida and two from Greater Noida (West), also known as Noida Extension, according to the statement. There was no official response from Oppo immediately on the matter. Gautam Buddh Nagar, adjoining Delhi, in western UP has so far recorded five COVID-19-linked deaths – all males aged above 60, according to officials. A 71-year-old Bulandshahr resident also succumbed due to COVID-19, pneumonia and severe sepsis at a government hospital in Greater Noida on Wednesday but his death was not counted in the district, the officials said. KIS IJT

Nine new COVID-19 patients in Gautam Buddh Nagar; cases cross 300-mark

(Eds: Recasts throughout, adds Zee Media's statement) Noida (UP), May 18 () Twenty-eight employees of a media house and 11 linked to two Chinese phone-manufacturing companies tested positive for coronavirus in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) on Monday, officials said. Nine workers of Oppo and two construction workers at the factory site of its sister concern Vivo in Greater Noida tested positive for the infection. Eight of the Oppo workers are in Gautam Buddh Nagar while one is in neighbouring Ghaziabad district, the officials said. Of the 28 employees of Noida Sector 16A-located Zee Media who have tested positive for Covid-19, 15 reside in Gautam Buddh Nagar while 13 are in Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon, according to officials. The Zee Media said in a statement it initiated "mass testing" after one of its employee was detected with the COVID-19 infection last Friday. Specific areas on the premises of Oppo and Vivo in Greater Noida and Zee Media office in Noida have been sealed for sanitisation work, Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas L Y said in statement. Meanwhile, the number of cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar adjoining Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh rose to 286 on Monday with the detection of 31 new patients, excluding those from Ghaziabad, Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon. Among other patients in Gautam Buddh Nagar are five contacts of a man from Sector 5 Harola village, who was earlier detected with the infection and a 40-year-old woman from Sector 78 Noida, he added. "Total 1,679 test results were obtained on Monday of which 1,648 were negative and 31 positive. Total 286 positive cases have been recorded so far. Three patients were discharged on Monday, taking the number of recoveries so far to 194 and active cases are 87," he said in a statement. Referring to the spread of COVID-19 from a 39-year-old man in Zee Media, he said, "The man lives in Delhi's Laxmi Nagar but works at Zee Media office in Sector 16A Noida. "He was found COVID-19 positive on May 15. His 51 contacts were tested at Max Lab in Delhi. His 15 contacts, who are employees in the same organisation, residing in Gautam Buddh Nagar have tested positive," he added. Another 13 contacts of the man who reside in Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon have tested positive for coronavirus and the administrations of their respective districts were doing the needful, as per protocols. Gautam Buddh Nagar has so far recorded five deaths -- all males aged above 60, according to officials. The number of samples collected till Monday stood at 8,245, according to the official statement. Oppo has got 3,321 employees tested for COVID-19 at a private lab in Gurgaon, Haryana and result of 1,581 of them have been sent to the health department, Gautam Buddh Nagar, while others were awaited, it stated. Vivo got 18 employees tested at a private lab in Gurgaon, Haryana and results of 16 of them were negative, while two were positive, the administration said. A Vivo spokesperson said, "No Vivo employee has tested positive till date and we are taking all precautionary measures adhering to all government guidelines." "Our current operational factory, 15 kms away from the construction site, is running at 30 per cent of its capacity as per the norms stated by Greater Noida authorities," the spokesperson added. Oppo said in a statement that it places the safety of all its employees and citizens at the forefront. "We had not only undertaken COVID-19 tests for all employees at the manufacturing facility in Greater Noida but also suspended all operations at the plant. We are undertaking stringent measures to keep the employees safe," the company said. Oppo also said that it has started screening more than 3,000 workers who have to join work and also approached the government for the test. In a statement shared on Twitter, Zee Media said last Friday one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. "As a responsible organization, we initiated mass testing of all those who could have been in direct or indirect contact with the said individual," it said. "So far, 28 of our team mates have tested positive. Fortunately, most of them are asymptomatic and not complaining of any discomfort. We believe this is because of early diagnosis and pro-active intervention," it added in the statement. "We are following the best practices to break the cycle and contain the infection, in coordination with all government and health authorities. All health protocols and official guidelines are being followed. Our office, newsroom and studios have been sealed for sanitisation. The Zee News team has been shifted to an alternative facility for the time being," Zee Media said. Meanwhile, the testing of the rest of the employees will continue, it said, adding the group has 2,500 employees. "Since Noida has a lot of containment zones, aggressive testing, isolation and treatment is the only way to ensure the safety of our team mates," it added. KIS RHL

28 media house employees, 11 workers linked to Chinese phone-making units test COVID-19 positive

Noida (UP), May 18 () Thirty-one people tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar on Monday, pushing the total number of coronavirus cases to 286 in the district, officials said.Nine of the new patients include workers of Chinese phone maker Oppo and two construction workers at a factory site of its sister-concern Vivo, the officials said.Also, 15 contacts of a 39-year-old man, who works at a media firm in Noida Sector 16A and was detected with the infection on May 15, have been found positive on Monday, District Magistrate Suhas L Y said."The man lives in Delhi's Laxmi Nagar but works at Zee Media office in Sector 16A Noida. He was found COVID-19 positive on May 15. His 51 contacts were tested at Max Lab in Delhi. His 15 contacts, who are employees in the same organisation, residing in Gautam Buddh Nagar have tested positive," the DM said in a statement.Another 13 contacts of the man who reside in Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon have tested positive for coronavirus and the administrations of their respective districts were doing the needful, as per protocols.Among other patients are five contacts of a man from Sector 5 Harola village, who was earlier detected with the infection and a 40-year-old woman from Sector 78 Noida, he said."Total 1,679 test results were obtained on Monday of which 1,648 were negative and 31 positive. Total 286 positive cases have been recorded so far. Three patients were discharged on Monday, taking the number of recoveries so far to 194 and active cases are 87," according to the statement.Guatam Buddh Nagar adjoining Delhi in western UP has so far recorded five deaths – all males aged above 60, according to officials. KIS TDSTDS

31 fresh COVID-19 cases reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar; total rises to 286

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Following reports of vandalism and protests outside smartphone factories and retails stores in India amid calls for boycotting Chinese goods, industry body India Cellular &amp; Electronics Association (ICEA) has asked smartphone makers not to ignore such incidents. The advisory was issued after as many as 30 people from the Hindu Raksha Dal, a right wing outfit, were booked under multiple sections of Indian Penal Code and Epidemic Diseases Act after they put a lock on the main gate of OPPO's manufacturing unit in Greater Noida last week. ICEA represents mobile and component manufacturers such as Motorola, Xiaomi, OPPO, Nokia, Foxconn, Apple, Wistron, Flextronics, Lava, Vivo and others. "It has been brought to our notice by some of our members that in the past few days certain fringe elements have staged unlawful protests/ demonstrations/ mob gathering at or outside the factory complexes/workplace/offices/retail-stores/points of purchase of our members," ICEA told its members in a letter on Thursday. Some smartphone manufacturers have reported that protesters armed with iron roads, sticks staged protests at their facilities and caused obstruction in ingress/egress. "There have also been sporadic incidents which have been brought to our notice pertaining to targeted vandalism of signboards and billboards of brands of member companies of country of a certain origin," ICEA said. The industry body asked its members to take appropriate and timely action so as to ensure that "the persons/group involved be brought to books, dealt sternly within the confines of law." Earlier this week, the All India Mobile Retailers Association requested the Chinese mobile phone brands to "allow retailers to cover these signages with cloth/flex or to remove the boards from the storefront for a few months". The ICEA also shot a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this week, saying that all China-origin imports of the electronics industry have come under adverse action by customs at the ports without prior warning, which has impacted the supply chain. In the letter to the Finance Minister, Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA said that they understand that even goods already cleared and loaded in trucks for transport to the users' warehouse are being recalled and examined. "Opening up finished products for full examination will soil them, making it impossible to sell in the market. This will lead to millions of dollars of losses, a shortage in the market and spook large foreign investors," he wrote. --IANS gb/na

Don't ignore vandalism at factories, ICEA tells smartphone makers

<keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> is consistently being bandied as the next major growth market for all smartphone companies, but there is one company that’s really struggling to crack India. The company in question is the most valuable one in the world -- <keyword id="6354427" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="apple">Apple</keyword>. According to CounterPoint’s latest report, Apple’s market share has dropped to an all-time low in India, with its share of the smartphone market dropping to below 2%. The problem is a combination of the nature of the Indian smartphone consumer, Indian laws and Apple’s stubbornness. This quarter Xiaomi and Samsung have emerged as the defacto leaders with their combined market share in India pushing 30%. Samsung managed to regain its lead in India with a share of 29%, up from 24% in the previous quarter, as per a report by Canalys. Xiaomi also grew to 28% market share in the country. While Tim Cook has reiterated often that India is a key market for the Cupertino-based giant, Apple has hit a new low in India, which is clearly the most important smartphone market outside of China. Pricing doesn’t allow Apple to compete for market share in India The problem for the company is that India is primarily a sub Rs 15,000 market, while the cheapest <keyword id="6354606" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="iPhone">iPhone</keyword> – the iPhone SE costs Rs 26,000, and runs three-year-old hardware. Apple doesn’t make cheap products because it doesn’t want to be perceived as a mass market smartphone brand. The Indian market is wildly different from the one in the United States, Europe and even China, which is Apple’s favourite market off-late. These markets are dominated by the operators and their contracts, where users can get the latest and greatest iPhone for about the same Rs 15,000 amount, put in as down payment. The space for phones that cost more than Rs 30,000 is just 4% of the Indian smartphone market. And that is commanded by OnePlus, followed by Samsung. Even if Apple were to get 100% market share in the premium space, it would still only command 4% of the market. Even when competing on price, older iPhones like the 6S and 7 lose out to newer phones from companies like OnePlus on both marketing and also technical capability. Indians tend to buy phones on the basis of specifications and even some of the newer models lose out to brands like OnePlus in the premium segment as the iPhone 6S and 7 models are perceived to be inferior. Hardware disadvantage Apple’s hardware disadvantage swells up when one talks about the cheapest iPhone models in this country. Apple simply doesn’t have a product in that price bracket, the sub-Rs 20,000 zone, and that’s the price point where the market for new smartphones is exploding. While the cheapest iPhone, the SE, costs Rs 26,000, it’s not the best selling iPhone here. It is the iPhone 6, which first popped up in 2014...and here we are in 2018. There are two reasons for this -- first, the iPhone 6 has a bigger screen (4.7-inch) which is more to the liking of Indian users; and second, design-wise, it’s not too dissimilar from the iPhone 8 which came out at the fag end of 2017. With the entry of Reliance Jio in India in late 2016, Indians have developed a voracious appetite for consuming video on the go. The iPhone SE, which uses the design of the iPhone 5 and 5S, has a rather small 4-inch screen. Newer phones like the Redmi Note 5 have much larger 5.99-inch screens. That’s a difference of 2-inches and considering mobile video, it's a huge one. The iPhone SE and iPhone 6, which are the two cheapest iPhones in India also have dated cameras. Nowadays, phones like the Honor 9 Lite and Redmi Note 5 Pro also offer dual cameras with an iPhone X-like bokeh mode -- something these older, cheaper iPhones can’t hope to match. Network conditions in India are often quite poor, connectivity wise, which results in smartphones consuming more battery. Apple’s iPhones have never been known for battery life. The most affordable iPhone in India (iPhone SE) has a meagre 1,624mAh battery, while phones half its price are pushing battery packs that are more than double the size. iPhones also don’t offer hardware features that are popular in emerging markets like ours. For instance, there is no support for dual SIM cards, and there is no support for expandable memory. With newer models like the iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and iPhone X, there isn’t even a headphone jack -- something competitors like Samsung and OnePlus are providing to customers in the premium segment. Apple hasn’t been able to push its design as a premium advantage either, as Chinese smartphone manufacturers have aped iPhone-like designs on almost all their phones. In fact, the design of the iPhone X has been democratised by Chinese smartphone makers. For instance, the iPhone X-style notch display can be found even on new phones like the Honor 9N that starts at just Rs 13,999 while offering dual cameras on not only the back but also for selfies, and also providing a battery that’s almost twice as big as the iPhone SE. Even their software is designed in a way that Android looks more like iOS. Android modifications from vendors like <keyword id="6357456" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="huawei">Huawei</keyword>, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo follow the same basic iOS-like design language. Software disadvantage It’s bad enough that many Android smartphone makers have designed their software to mimic the look and feel of iOS, but Apple’s problems are compounded by the fact that its own services perform poorly in India or are non-existent. Apple Maps is perhaps the biggest no-show. It doesn’t do turn-by-turn navigation in India and its mapping coverage is abysmal in the country. It is a matter of fact that Apple Maps can’t be used in India as a reliable tool for commuting. Apple Pay isn’t available in India at a time where digital payments are taking off in the country. Paytm and Google’s Tez payments systems are taking off in India massively. Samsung launched Samsung Pay in India last year. Apple Pay is dependent on NFC, while Samsung Pay uses a combination of NFC and magnetic secure transaction (MST), which mimics the magnetic signal a credit or debit card makes to a POS machine. Siri, on most days doesn’t understand the Indian accent as well as the Google Assistant, and nor can it do much. Heck, <keyword id="10387" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword>’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa do a better job and this is despite the fact that Apple was the first company to deploy a virtual assistant. While Apple’s services hobble on its own trophy -- the iPhone -- its competitors -- Google, Amazon and Microsoft have their services performing better on iOS. For mapping, most people use Google Maps. For search, Google Search becomes the default, and for productivity, Microsoft’s Office crushes Apple’s iWork apps. Rarely, you’re using Apple software on the iPhone in India. Even Apple Music, which is one of the rare examples of an Apple service doing well in the country, has been flanked by local competition like Ganna.com, Jio music, Wynk and Saavn. All of whom have a free tier. On older iPhones, Apple’s iOS updates have also crippled the experience of the iPhone. A couple of years ago, there used to be a strong argument in favour of the iPhone as it would perform well for over two years. Apple’s recent updates have made older iPhones inferior in comparison to newer Android phones that cost the same. Apple is addressing this issue in this year's iOS 12 update, which makes huge performance improvements to older iPhones, but it could be too little too late. The app store also doesn't make life easy for users as it demands a credit card for a user to even download free apps. That's not the case on the Google Play store. Apple has been late in localising services for India The larger issue here is that Apple isn’t localising its services for India in the way it has attempted to for China. This is indicative of the fact that Apple hasn’t taken the time or put enough resources behind localising its services for this country. Samsung and Huawei have R&amp;D centres in India customising services for the market. Xiaomi also prioritises and customises products for India. Apple opened an App Accelerator in Bangalore and a facility for Apple Maps in Hyderabad only in 2016. Google has had software and services being developed out of India since the mid-2000s, while Microsoft has been in India since the early 90’s. This has, in turn, inhibited Apple’s ability to quickly pivot. Its biggest competitor, Google, on a platform level, makes products for India. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said last year, “India shapes how we build products. If something works in India it will work globally.” And this philosophy can be seen in the customisations that Google has made to core services like Android, Maps, YouTube, Search and even payments. Its next billion division has made “Go” editions of Android, YouTube, Search and Maps, which are designed to work better on low power phones and poorer network conditions. They have even invested in KaiOS that powers feature phones like the Jio Phone creating its own versions of YouTube, Google Search and Assistant in India. For Apple to replicate its China success in India, it has to do a lot more than what it did in China. Even in China, Apple’s momentum has slowed so it has a steep slope to climb there as well. In China, Google and Amazon are almost non-existent. In India, they are big players. Apple isn’t able to compete with Google with regards to services. Most people use Google services which are part of all Android phones and one doesn’t need to buy a comparatively expensive iPhone to enjoy them. Apple and the Indian government: Frenemies? Apple hasn’t seen eye to eye with the Indian government for long. Apple expected concessions for manufacturing in India. It never made headway with that. While it lobbied for tax concessions -- brands like Xiaomi, Oppo and Huawei all got on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme which grants locally assembled phones some tax concessions. Only recently, Apple has started manufacturing both the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in India. There are some reports that Apple has locked in a deal with one of its ODM vendors to manufacture even the iPhone X, but that’s not happening right now. The price variance between the iPhone X and the new Samsung Galaxy S9+ is quite startling. The iPhone X tops out at a whopping Rs 1,07,999 while the latest Galaxy S9+ tops out at Rs 69,000 for its top-end model in India. That’s almost a gap of Rs 40,000 which ironically is the cost of the 128GB model of the OnePlus 6 which is currently the best selling smartphone in the premium segment in this country. In the US, the iPhone X costs $1,149 which is around Rs 79,000 and the Galaxy S9+ costs $792 (around Rs 55,000). This points towards the fact that India is the most expensive place to purchase an iPhone and also the fact that Samsung’s phones have a huge price advantage in India that they don’t enjoy even in the US. And a lot of this is due to the fact that the S9+ is assembled in Samsung’s factory in Greater Noida (a satellite town outside New Delhi) which also happens to be the largest smartphone manufacturing plant in the world. The iPhone is further hobbled by the fact that it has an international warranty and India has a bubbling <keyword id="395545" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="grey-market">grey market</keyword>. It’s totally possible for someone to buy an imported iPhone for much lesser than the official price in India and still enjoy global warranty on the product. For years, Apple has been hoping to get permissions to set up its iconic Apple Stores in India. Indian law stipulates that single brand retail can only happen when products use 30% raw materials that are locally sourced -- that’s a hard problem to solve for Apple. That’s led to it selling its phones via resellers who often have discounted products to move inventory, thereby diluting Apple’s premium identity. In order to move more affordable iPhones, the Indian government has also rejected Apple’s plan for selling refurbished iPhones in India. More recently, Apple has been deadlocked in a stalemate with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in India over the installation of its spam reporting app on the iPhone. The telecom regulator has been reported to be taking extreme steps which could result in the iPhone being blocked from telecom networks in India if Apple doesn’t play ball, but that seems to be changing. An update in iOS 12 could possibly pave the way for an extension in the iMessage app for the TRAI to push out its spam reporting feature. The big takeaway is that Apple’s brand positioning makes its life hard enough in a market where feature phone sales are still growing, however, it hasn’t helped its own cause by not investing in India in a timely manner and also not adopting and partaking quickly enough in initiatives of the Indian government which has put it at a disadvantage with regards to lobbying.

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