Turkish president wants Apple to invest R&D capital, offers tax incentives
During a high-level meeting on Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah G?l called for Apple to invest in the state's growing technopark initiative, while CEO Tim Cook confirmed plans for a "unique" flagship Apple Store in Istanbul.
Turkish President Abdullah G?l (far left) meets with Apple CEO Tim Cook. | Source: President of Turkey's official website
As noted in a brief report of the meeting posted to the president's official webpage, G?l asked that Apple consider Turkey for future research and development activities.
By having a base of operations in Turkey, consumers would look at Apple not only as a purveyor of goods, but as a company that adds value to the country, the president said. He mentioned that the technopark project is continually growing with new investments "everyday," though details on which companies were sinking capital into the region were not disclosed.
Despite being one of the more important issues at hand, not much was revealed regarding the FATIH education project. When it was announced that Cook was in Turkey to visit G?l, it was speculated that the meeting would revolve around the initiative that could be worth between $3 billion to $4 billion.
FATIH is an aggressive high-tech educational plan that looks to put up to 15 million tablets into the hands of Turkey's students. Apple VP of Education John Couch previously met with G?l to discuss the deal in 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the man behind FATIH, subsequently visited Apple's Cupertino headquarters to get a better understanding of the iPad in education technology.
Moving on to the subject of retail, Cook said that Apple plans to open a "unique" Apple Store in Istanbul this April. Without going into detail, the Apple chief revealed the location will boast features and a design concept seen nowhere else in the world.
In December, a report surfaced claiming the new Istanbul outlet is to be located at Zorlu Center and would showcase a large glass cap structure like those seen at Apple's flagship stores in New York and Shanghai.
Apple opened the doors to its Online Apple Store in October, marking the company's first official retail presence in the country.
Other topics of discussion included localization of Apple's Siri virtual assistant, the iOS implementation of a Turkish keyboard and increasing local App Store content.
Turkish President Abdullah G?l (far left) meets with Apple CEO Tim Cook. | Source: President of Turkey's official website
As noted in a brief report of the meeting posted to the president's official webpage, G?l asked that Apple consider Turkey for future research and development activities.
By having a base of operations in Turkey, consumers would look at Apple not only as a purveyor of goods, but as a company that adds value to the country, the president said. He mentioned that the technopark project is continually growing with new investments "everyday," though details on which companies were sinking capital into the region were not disclosed.
Despite being one of the more important issues at hand, not much was revealed regarding the FATIH education project. When it was announced that Cook was in Turkey to visit G?l, it was speculated that the meeting would revolve around the initiative that could be worth between $3 billion to $4 billion.
FATIH is an aggressive high-tech educational plan that looks to put up to 15 million tablets into the hands of Turkey's students. Apple VP of Education John Couch previously met with G?l to discuss the deal in 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the man behind FATIH, subsequently visited Apple's Cupertino headquarters to get a better understanding of the iPad in education technology.
Moving on to the subject of retail, Cook said that Apple plans to open a "unique" Apple Store in Istanbul this April. Without going into detail, the Apple chief revealed the location will boast features and a design concept seen nowhere else in the world.
In December, a report surfaced claiming the new Istanbul outlet is to be located at Zorlu Center and would showcase a large glass cap structure like those seen at Apple's flagship stores in New York and Shanghai.
Apple opened the doors to its Online Apple Store in October, marking the company's first official retail presence in the country.
Other topics of discussion included localization of Apple's Siri virtual assistant, the iOS implementation of a Turkish keyboard and increasing local App Store content.
Comments
Ok. So my curiosity is piqued.
Cook will make it interesting by calling it the Constantinople Apple Store.
In seriousness, I hope he closes that deal. $3B+ worth of iPads would be huge. For a sale that large, I'm sure he will "consider" Abdullah G?!'s request.
Except of course that Turkey isn't in the EU...
Except that Turkey is in the EUCU.
I suggest you do a bit more research on what the difference to political control and intra country economics the various acronyms mean.
I perfectly know what it means. Turkey is to the EU as Mexico is to US and Canada.
Apple don't do R&D anywhere much outside Cupertino.
Israel.
I read an article last year which said that Apple was opening it's third R&D center in that country.
"will boast features and a design concept seen nowhere else in the world."
Ok. So my curiosity is piqued.
Maybe it will have one of those pointed dome roofs popular in that part of the world.
Maybe it will have one of those pointed dome roofs popular in that part of the world.
That would be terrible, easily the worst Apple store ever made.
Because, Apple shouldn't be including religious crap into their designs, in my opinion.
While domes are used on a lot of churches and mosques they are not innately religious.
Not sure Apple would be able to build one entirely out of glass though.
There are many things that Apple can research there. Education, Languages and Mapping are examples. They are in both Asia and Europe so research being done in Europe and Asia can extend there. I am sure Tim & team will think of something good.
Apple don't do R&D anywhere much outside Cupertino.
Sure they do...
Anobit and PrimeSense are in Israel.
AlgoTrim, C3 Technologies, Polar Rose are from Sweeden
Imagination Technologies is in the UK.
Israel.
Israel.
I read an article last year which said that Apple was opening it's third R&D center in that country.
Those relate to purchased companies.
Sure they do...
Anobit and PrimeSense are in Israel.
AlgoTrim, C3 Technologies, Polar Rose are from Sweeden
Imagination Technologies is in the UK.
ImgTec isn't an Apple subsidiary.
Pre-existing Corporations purchased by Apple
AlgoTrim, C3 Tech, Polar Rose, Anobit and PrimeSense.
None of these were deliberate creations of Apple and thus invested capital to build global R&D Centers.
They are purchased companies whose R&D locations act as satellite divisions, all coordinating with the main IP at Apple.
Most of those staffs either leave after the merger or relocate to Cupertino, while small hands on staffs stay remote.