Samsung top executive to be Apple India media head

In a key development, US tech giant Apple is all set to hire Rajiv Mishra, currently vice president of media and corporate social responsibility division at Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, as its India head of media and public affairs.

Mishra confirmed the development to IANS on Wednesday.

The move is significant, as it comes when Apple CEO Tim Cook is in India on a four-day visit and is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week.

The move is also crucial as with Mishra's over 22-year expertise, Apple will be better positioned to disseminate information to its various stakeholders and cement its position in the Indian market.

Mishra joined Samsung in August 2014. At Samsung, Mishra is responsible for overseeing the entire media mandate for the organisation across the country.

He had worked for various media organisations like Hindustan Times Group, Star TV, Zee TV, Reliance Infocomm Limited, News 24 (BAG Films and Media) and India News, among others.

Mishra also worked with Lok Sabha TV as CEO and has been a nominated member of various media advisory bodies in various ministries.

He is founder of the Electronic Media Rating Council of India and his contribution in television ratings methodology in Europe has been recognised by International Telecommunication Union and European Broadcasting Union at Geneva.

Rajiv Mishra is also the founder and first president of Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI) and also the first president of Association of Regional Television Broadcasters of India (ARTBI), the industry representative body of regional Broadcasters of India. He has recently been nominated as member, expert committee of Information & Broadcasting Ministry to develop papers on copyright issues.

A master's in broadcasting from IAB, Montreux, Switzerland, he earned MBA in media management from Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY) in the US.

Apple is reported to be looking for new growth markets like India following decline in sales.

Hit by slower growth in the sale of its flagship products iPhone, iPad and Mac globally, Apple's revenue dropped for the first time since 2003 as the tech giant released earning reports for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 in March.

Revenue was down in both Americas and China -- Apple's two biggest territories. It declined around 10 percent in the Americas and 26 percent in China.

According to Vishal Tripathi, research director at global market consultancy firm Gartner, Cook may raise the issue of allowing Apple to import and sell refurbished iPhones at a cheaper price in India during his talk with Modi. This will give Apple a slot in the mid and low-price segment.

Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is already present here and is looking to set up a manufacturing base in the country.