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Apple to open first official store in India next year

Apple will finally make its official mark on India after CEO Tim Cook revealed plans on Thursday to open the very first physical store in the country next year.

Apple has wanted a brick-and-mortar footprint in India for some time, but government regulations previously prevented overseas companies from opening stores if they do not source 30% of raw materials locally.

Apple lobbied for an exemption from that law, which was ratified in 2018, and after a long wait, it has now been given approval to start work.

During a shareholders’ meeting in California in midweek, Cook said that it wanted to wait for official approval as he did not want “somebody else to run the brand for us”.

India is a thriving smartphone market, though Apple devices are not as popular there as in other regions due to the exorbitant costs, which can run to around a year’s salary for a flagship iPhone.

It has made headway in recent years and logged its “best ever performance” in Q4 last year.

Shipments increased 200% during that quarter compared to a year earlier, and it is now pushing traditional heavyweights Xiaomi and Samsung.

Analysts believe that the release of the iPhone 11 was a watershed moment for Apple in India due to its more affordable price point and excitement about the improvements to the rear cameras.

Canalys analyst Madhumita Chaudhary noted: “The new iPhones have appealed not just to current iPhone users looking to upgrade, but also to value-conscious premium phone purchasers.”

Apple phones are currently sold via location partners, but it will soon have an official outlet for its iPhones and other products.

Cook did not reveal an exact date for the opening of the new store in India, but it will happen sometime in 2021.

Apple will also start online sales in the country later this year.

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About the author

Chris

I've been a passionate evangelist for Apple and the Macintosh throughout my working life, my first love was a Quadra 605 working with a small creative agency in the south of Norfolk UK in the mid 1990's, I later progressed to other roles in other Macintosh dominated industries, first as a Senior graphic designer at a small printing company and then a production manager at Guardian Media Group. As the publishing and printing sector wained I moved into Internet Marketing and in 2006 co-founded blurtit.com which grew to become one the top 200 visited sites in the US (according to Quantcast), at its peak receiving over 15 million visits per month. For the last ten years I have worked as an Affiliate and Consultant to many different business and start ups, my key skill set being online marketing, on page monetisation, landing page optimisation and traffic generation, if you would like to hire me or discuss your current project please reach out to me here.

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