Apple’s long time India head Maneesh Dhir has resigned, according to a latest report from the Times of India. The company is now looking for a new country manager as per sources familiar with matter.
Dhir had joined Apple in 2010 as country manager for India and under his reign sales from the country grew from a mere $100 million to over $1 billion, added the report. Prior to Apple, Dhir was working as EVP (International) and MD (India) for AOL. Last year, another Apple executive Sharad Mehrotra who used to head the company’s enterprise mobility unit in India had put in his papers. Dhir is exiting from the company at a crucial time when Apple is looking forward for an approval from the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) to open its own branded stores in the country.
The report stated that Apple may hire an interim head for its India business from within the company till the time it manages to appoint a permanent replacement to Dhir. Apple clocked $1 billion in revenue in the Indian market for the fiscal year 2014-2015. The company has significantly increased its retail presence in the country in the past year with five distributors.