TMS Ep416: Apple's India plans, real MVPs of IPL, markets, chit funds

Hundreds of Apple loyalists -- some of them from Rajasthan and distant Madhya Pradesh -- erupted in joy when Tim Cook flung open the doors of Apple’s store in Delhi’s upmarket Saket on Thursday morning. And just two days ago, Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex was also witness to similar sparks of enthusiasm, where Apple CEO opened the first retail store of the company. For Apple, this is another, very visible, example of the bet it has placed on India, not just as a manufacturing base but also as a market. But can Apple replicate its China success in India? 

Apple Inc was also keen on buying IPL media rights for a five-year cycle beginning 2023. But the Californian tech giant had pulled out of the auction along with Amazon and Alphabet last year. Moving on, if you have been following the latest season of IPL, Rinku Singh’s last-over heroics in the match between KKR and Gujarat Titans on April 9, is sure to have taken your breath away. With this stellar performance, Singh found himself in a long line of IPL players who, while not billed at the top in the annual auction, proved to be the most valued performers for their teams. So, are undercard IPL players the real MVPs of the game? And are their price tags lighter than their value? 

Temperatures, meanwhile, are rising. Not just in IPL stadiums, but off the fields too. And the soaring mercury is also driving the sales of air conditioners, coolers and other similar products. So is it time to buy consumer appliance stocks? 

India has had several types of investment instruments which attracted people with the promise of good returns. Chit funds are one of them. But they have also been in the news for wrong reasons. West Bengal’s chit fund scam is one such example. And so is the recent one in Andhra Pradesh. But exactly what is a chit fund? Listen to this episode of the podcast for the answers.