BackSeeking interactions with fellow fans of Apple products who drive tall hatchbacks
Best of the Week, 22 April: Tim Cook, Wagon R, and air travel
PremiumDear reader,
Any celebrity, politician, or business leader's visit to India is usually filled with a ton of media interactions. After all, they often fly here to promote something, and not necessarily for a leisurely visit. PR agencies line reporters up, filling the concerned VIP's schedule with multiple reporters from multiple publications.
While the questions from reporters might differ, they are usually met with very cookie-cutter responses.
So while a couple of weeks back the craze was around Hollywood stars like Tom Holland, Zendaya, and models like Gigi Hadid, this week brought a new face: that of Tim Cook. Apple's CEO opened a couple of brick-and-mortar stores, had a tête-à-tête with Mukesh Ambani, ate vada pav with Madhuri Dixit, watched the spectacle that is the Indian Premier League with Sonam Kapoor, and ate some pastry. In between his schedule, he also found time to entertain queries from reporters, including two from Mint.
🍎 Cook first spoke to TechCircle's deputy editor Prasid Banerjee in Mumbai. He saw India becoming one of Apple's biggest markets, pointing towards the company's efforts to bring manufacturing and now the Apple Store to India. There is plenty of scope for growth: Apple owns just 4% of India's ever-growing mobile phone market.
📱 A couple of days later, he spoke to our senior assistant editor Gulveen Aulakh in Delhi. Apple's efforts in India have led to enormous job creation in the last two years — nearly 100,000, as Cook pointed out. Apple wants to double that headcount in India, although Cook did not commit to any timelines to reach that number.
💻 This week also saw the quarterly earnings reports filed for some of the foremost IT companies: Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and HCL Tech. HCL Tech beat out its peers in terms of earnings. However, as compared to other segments, IT shares have been flying low for a few months now. This makes it the best time to bottom-fish and buy low on these large-cap IT stocks. In his detailed piece, Livemint's markets reporter Asit Manohar decodes which IT stock is more attractive, and why.
🥶 While the public markets are all over the place, private companies, especially startups, aren't having a good time. Valuations of companies are nosediving as venture capital and private equity firms have turned conservative while disbursing cash. Many companies are even okay with accepting down rounds — a reduction in total valuation of the company to receive any money — to continue operating, report senior editor Ranjani Raghavan and senior assistant editor Sneha Shah. Truly chilly, grim times during the funding winter.
⚓️ In the absence of more money coming in, startups are culling their headcount every week. For folks who joined startups with the promise of stock options, BMW bikes, and larger-than-life designations (seriously, what is a "chief happiness officer" even supposed to do?), many top executives are returning to stable jobs — even at reduced salaries. It's down round season for both startups and their employees, write Ranjani and senior editor Devina Sengupta.
🚙 Since BMW bikes are nowhere to be seen, you might want to invest in an SUV. Here's a fun fact: if you lease the vehicle through your employer, you can get a discount of anywhere between 20 to 40% on your next four wheeler purchase. Of course, this comes with a lot of stipulations —Akshat Rohatgi and Shipra Singh from the Mint Money team break it all down for you.
🚗 SUVs are the choice du jour of Indian car buyers these days. However, one car beats them all: the trusty Wagon R. Even more than two decades after its release (its first iteration came to India in 1999!), it is the most-selling model in India for two consecutive years now. The reason? Being a low-maintenance Maruti Suzuki can't hurt. Additionally, its multiple offerings: petrol, CNG, automatic, manual — all give buyers so many choices at multiple price points. Mint's national editor and resident motorhead Sumant Banerji writes about why the Wagon R continues to sell like hot cakes, even when faced with competition from all the fancy new SUVs.
✈️ For those that don't want to meddle in a Wagon R or an SUV, there's always flights. The central government would like you to choose an Indian airline the next time you fly overseas. How can they do this? Bilateral flying quotas. Our aviation reporters Mihir Mishra and Anu Sharma explain how the government wants you to fly local to global destinations, while making India an aviation hub for the world.
🛫 While the government is working on that, we're seeing another trend in domestic flights: a revival. Monthly flying numbers are nearly at pre-pandemic levels, with March seeing 13 million domestic flyers. How India Lives illustrates how India's metro cities are leading the revival in India's domestic air travel, in 5 neat charts.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏠 The last story from this week showcases why India needs the Marriage Equality Act. Dubbed as "same-sex" act by many news publications, the issue has been hotly contested by the Supreme Court this entire week. Neil Borate, head of our personal finance team and Shipra Singh outline how folks from the LGBTQ+ community are discriminated against in India's rental market. A decision on legalising the union between any two people irrespective of their gender preferences will go a long way in combating this exclusion faced by the queer community. I can only hope the SC acts progressively (and justly) in this matter.
If you're in Delhi or Mumbai, do you plan on visiting the shiniest new Apple stores? Perhaps you'll make that visit in your Wagon R. If you do, please do write to me — I'd love to interact with fellow fans of Apple products who drive tall hatchbacks. My MacBook and my Wagon R have never given me much trouble, and I'll stay loyal to them for the foreseeable future.
If you have any thoughts, ideas, or feedback on our journalism (or subscription), please feel free to write to me (shashwat.mohanty@htdigital.in). We're a perpetually evolving news product, so any and every input is appreciated!
Best,
Shashwat Mohanty
Assistant Editor
Subscriber Experience Team
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