Apple's Pitch To Indian Developers: Think Local, Stay Up To Date, and Aim For Design Awards (ndtv.com)

An anonymous reader shares an article: With just under half-a-million registered Apple developers in the country, India is among the most active markets when it comes to making apps for Apple's platforms, but the iPhone-maker took its time before getting involved with the local ecosystem in a meaningful way. Things started to change earlier this year, when Apple setup App Accelerator - a first-of-its-kind initiative, in namma Bengaluru, India earlier this year. More than three months later, the company's efforts are starting to shape up. Gadgets 360 spoke to many developers who have signed up for the App Accelerator, and they are pleased with how things are going so far. Registration to the App Accelerator - which is capable of hosting 500 developers per week - as well as attending the sessions, is free and open to everyone. At the App Accelerator sessions, which range between two to four hours, "evangelists" from the company are getting developers up to speed with the newest technologies, and guiding them to improve their apps and make the best out of the available resources. Developers told Gadgets 360 they get to understand what new technologies Apple specifically recommends they target, with SiriKit being one such example. That's a big and helpful change, developers say, because Indian companies often take long time in leveraging new features Apple introduces. The most crucial advice that developers have walked out of the campus with, they tell Gadgets 360, has been to reconsider their target audience. The evangelists have told them to make apps that serve to the needs of the local market, instead of focusing their energies in chasing the Western audience.

Comments

Re:The neglected India

[darthsilun]

1. iPhones are not subsidized by the carrier

FTFY.

And knowing, as I do, what Indian carriers (are allowed to) charge, it's not hard to see why.

Four years ago I loaded my India phone with R500 (about $8) and only had to reload it for the first time earlier this year. Actually, I probably could have gone for another year on the remaining balance I had – about R70 – when I reloaded it.

I don't know about iPhone prices, but in my experience other Apple products in the Imagine stores are within one or two percent of the prices at the Apple stores here in the US.

Now if you want a Kitchenaid mixer, that'll run you nearly double what it costs here in the US.