In a Pivot Beyond China, Apple is Opening its First Stores in India

As a result of an announcement made by Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday, it has been announced that the iPhone maker will open its first stores in India next week, underscoring Apple's ambitions to make and build products there.

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According to people familiar with the matter, Cook will likely be the one whose role will be to oversee the opening of the twin outlets in Indian capital city's financial and political capital, asking to remain anonymous while discussing private plans. The company announced Tuesday that it would open a store in New Delhi on April 20 and a store in Mumbai on April 18.

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After a seven-year absence from India, the CEO has made a return visit to the country for the first time in 2016. The trip coincides with the company hitting important milestones, including an all-time high of iPhone sales in India and a record export of iPhones to the country valued at billions of dollars every year. In spite of strained relations between Beijing and Washington, Apple is betting on India as a means of diversifying its assembly operations outside of China.

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This month Cook will open Apple's first India store, which will be located within an upscale mall near Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex. On Tuesday, the store barricades that were set up on that particular store were lifted. He plans on opening the doors on the New Delhi store in the Saket neighborhood a few days after that, in an upscale mall in the Saket neighborhood.

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As Indian rules are extremely stringent regarding the opening of own-brand outlets and global brands are not permitted to set up their own stores unless a significant portion of the goods is sourced from within the country itself, it has taken a long time for these stores to be set up.

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When Apple was contacted to express its concerns about Cook's visit, the company did not immediately respond to the email.

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A new online store was opened by the company in 2020 for Indians. Despite the fact that the country is among the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world, Apple's relatively high sticker prices continue to discourage consumers in the country of 1.4 billion people, where affordability is a major factor in buying products.

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One of the people said Apple had sought a meeting between Cook and Prime Minister Narendra Modi between the opening of the two stores. As a result of Modi’s government’s efforts to promote electronics manufacturing, Apple's manufacturing partners such as Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp. have been offered billions of dollars in incentives by Modi's government in an effort to lure them.

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It has been noted that Cook has stressed the importance of India to Apple as a market and production base during its earnings calls. He said Apple broke the company's quarterly revenue record and grew the country's revenue by double digits year over year in a recent conference.

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We see India as a major growth market in the near future, Cook said during the call. "I am extremely bullish about this market."