Did Rising Costs Doom Apple's Bangalore Support Center?

When Apple last month brought to a screeching halt plans to build a tech support center in Bangalore, India, rising costs in the country may have played a major part in the decision. While the company only said that it was reevaluating its plans and would look at other countries, a source told BusinessWeek: "India isnit as inexpensive as it used to be. The turnover is high, and the competition for good people is strong."

The article noted that while Indiais economy is strong, its Sensex benchmark index dropped by 20% over the past month as investors reacted to the news that paychecks jump 13% and 30% for entry-level and management jobs, respectively, between 2000 and 2004.

Apple has retained a small sales and marketing staff in the country, however, and on May 29 it announced a partnership with New Delhi-based HCL to support iPod sales in India. HCL has said it will offer Apple services similar to those it provides to Nokia.