Tim Cook to visit Turkish president this week, may discuss $4B iPad deal

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet with Turkish President President Abdullah G?l on Tuesday local time, with rumors claiming the topic of discussion will be a potential iPad in education deal worth somewhere between $3 billion and $4 billion.

Turkey Meeting
Apple VP John Couch (right) discusses the FATIH education initiative with Turkish President Abdullah G?l (left).
Source: President of Turkey's official website


Continuing a mini world tour that has seen meetings with two heads of state in as many days, Cook and an accompanying delegation will next visit Turkish President Abdullah G?l on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The announcement was made on Monday via the president's official webpage.

While topics up for discussion remain unknown, some believe Cook and G?l will talk about Turkey's "FATIH Project," which looks to replace traditional classroom teaching tools with advanced equipment like Apple's iPad. A report from December claimed the two would meet in February.

Cook's meeting comes almost one year to the day after Apple's VP of Education John Couch met with G?l to discuss the country's education program. That meeting was followed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters to get a better understanding of the company's iPad in education technology before putting out a call for bids for his FATIH Project.

According to reports, the initial phase of the high-tech education initiative includes the purchase of 10.6 million tablets, with an add-on option to acquire another 2 to 2.5 million units over a four-year period. Total cost of the plan comes in at between $2 billion and $4 billion.

Cook's visit coincides with the opening of Turkey's first Apple Store, a 21,500-square-foot outlet located in Instanbul's Zorlu Center. Apple is growing its presence in the region and in October opened the doors to its Online Apple Store.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13

    Three word, Mr. Cook:  Cash up front.

  • Reply 2 of 13
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member

    May?

  • Reply 3 of 13

    10.6 Million iPads for the initial phase.  That's a lot of iPads.

    Imagine how many iPads will be purchase for the whole project.

     

    The LA Unified School District iPad project is a great success.

    Apple needs to shine  bright in this Turkey project.  I wonder if they are using Pearson for the curriculum.

  • Reply 4 of 13
    just_mejust_me Posts: 590member
    10.6 Million iPads for the initial phase.  That's a lot of iPads.
    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">Imagine how many iPads will be purchase for the whole project.</span>


    The LA Unified School District iPad project is a great success.
    Apple needs to shine  bright in this Turkey project.  I wonder if they are using Pearson for the curriculum.

    You forgot the /s
    http://o.dailycaller.com/all/2013-12-02-l-a-schools-ipad-giveaway-continues-to-be-a-hilarious-epic-disaster?ref=&amp;mediaKey=dailycaller&width=960&height=1549&origin=http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/02/l-a-schools-ipad-giveaway-continues-to-be-a-hilarious-epic-disaster/&size=small&oswts=1391473902145
  • Reply 5 of 13
    Tim Cook better make sure he gets all his money up front. I've heard there is an awful lot of corruption going on in the Turkish government. I personally think Cook should pass on this project as it sounds too good to be true.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Constable Odo View Post



    Tim Cook better make sure he gets all his money up front. I've heard there is an awful lot of corruption going on in the Turkish government. I personally think Cook should pass on this project as it sounds too good to be true.

    Pass on a $10B deal with a nation that has a GDP approaching $1T? Let's not even talk about how this looks to other nations in the region. You've said some naive things before, but this takes the cake.

  • Reply 7 of 13
    jpmiajpmia Posts: 63member
    Oh no.. there going to sell even more ipads..
  • Reply 8 of 13
    just_me wrote: »
    10.6 Million iPads for the initial phase.  That's a lot of iPads.
    <span style="line-height:1.4em;">Imagine how many iPads will be purchase for the whole project.</span>


    The LA Unified School District iPad project is a great success.
    Apple needs to shine  bright in this Turkey project.  I wonder if they are using Pearson for the curriculum.

    You forgot the /s
    http://o.dailycaller.com/all/2013-12-02-l-a-schools-ipad-giveaway-continues-to-be-a-hilarious-epic-disaster?ref=&amp;mediaKey=dailycaller&width=960&height=1549&origin=http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/02/l-a-schools-ipad-giveaway-continues-to-be-a-hilarious-epic-disaster/&size=small&oswts=1391473902145

    Here's an update on LA Unified:
    L.A. school board moves forward with computer effort

    The board votes to distribute iPads to 38 more campuses, start purchasing laptops for seven high schools and buy as many tablets as needed for state testing.
    January 14, 2014|By Howard Blume

    A student smiles as he uses an LAUSD-issued iPad. (Bob Chamberlin, Los Angeles…)
    Continuing its efforts to provide every student with a computer, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to distribute iPads to 38 more campuses, begin the process of purchasing laptops for seven high schools and buy as many tablets as needed for new state tests in the spring.

    http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/14/local/la-me-lausd-20140115
  • Reply 9 of 13

    I hope Tim Cook is not that naive. Turkey won't buy any iPad without Erdogan directly or indirectly financially benefiting from that deal.

  • Reply 10 of 13
    ireland wrote: »
    May?

    Tim: "Oh, yeah... One more thing..."
  • Reply 11 of 13
    false. AI Bug
  • Reply 12 of 13
    false AI bug
  • Reply 13 of 13
    mknoppmknopp Posts: 257member
    Apple is quickly tying up the tablet market.

    In the 80s Apple dominated the education market, but left Microsoft the business market. In the end, this meant that Microsoft won as the ecosystem was driven by the business market. This time Apple is dominating the business market and the education market. This means that as time goes by people will be using iPads for education and work. They will become invested in the iOS ecosystem, and thus be more likely to buy an iPad for a personal tablet because it is what they are used to and invested in.

    The only saving grace for Android is their domination of the cell phone market, primarily the low end. This gives a large base of people exposure to Android, but this is also where Androids openness and free app environment hurts them. Having an Android phone doesn't really force an investment in the ecosystem, and because Google is trying to be everywhere it also doesn't lock you into the Android ecosystem.

    Microsoft is struggling. Their only leverage at all is Office, but it is a big lever. However, Microsoft is playing a dangerous game. The longer that they keep Office Surface only the more and more that businesses and schools are finding alternatives to Office. So much so, that if Microsoft holds out for too long they might just find that a significant portion of their customer base may no longer care to pay for Office. If that happens ...
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