In 2020 Apple opens its first physical store in India

The obstacle saga for Apple in India has just made a turn after many years of tug-of-war. And it could come to an end in the medium term with the opening of its first official store in the country. The companies warns, however, that the process «will take a while». This is an official confirmation of your plans thanks to a media statement collected by 9to5Mac.

First online, then Apple Store physical

We love our customers in India and are eager to serve them online and through a store with the same experience and care that Apple customers around the world enjoy. We appreciate the support and hard work of Prime Minister Modi and his team to make this possible and look forward to welcoming our first Customers in India to the first physical Apple Store. It will take us some time to proceed with our plans and we will have more news to announce in the future.

In this way Apple expressed itself regarding its plans for India. The main pitfalls for the deployment of its online presence and official physics were in the legislation of the country. Under these laws, the Indian state required companies to have products marketed with at least 30% locally manufactured.

This is why Apple started making iPhones in the country. These were models such as the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7, manufactured in «discrete» quantities when compared to newer models (some units were exported to Europe). Despite efforts, Apple had been unable to open its presence in physical stores in India.

Everything indicates that the country has loosened the requirements and now it is possible for the company to start establishing its stores. Apple’s announcement confirms this point, which comes just at a time when trade and tariff tensions between China and the US are pushing tech giants to find other locations for their factories. One of them is India. It also coincides with a reorganization of the sales strategy in this country, where iPhone input models have recently been removed and bet on value instead of price.

For its first Apple Store in India, Apple would have chosen the city of Mumbai. With several locations as candidates, these were high-end stores similar to those on Fifth Avenue in New York. If everything goes as expected, next year the Indians should have their first official store.

Apple is about to open its first Apple Store in India, key country where it’s not so easy to get in

India has in recent years become one of the main markets of interest for Apple. With one of the largest populations in the world, it is essential to sell in this country to increase market share. However, it is not so easy to penetrate India. An important step in this process is going to be to open physical stores in the country, the first may arrive in a few weeks.

As Bloomberg reports, Apple has finalized its list of possible locations for the first Apple Store in India. They have reportedly pre-selected several locations in luxury areas in Mumbai, in the style of the Apple store of Quina Avenue in New York or Regent Street in London. The final location is expected to be decided «in the coming weeks» according to Bloomberg sources.

The process to be able to open the first Apple Store has not been an easy task, due to the regulations of the country Apple has had to manufacture part of its iPhone (a minimum 30%) in India to be able to sell them in the country. As a result, it has partnered with Foxconn or Wistron among others to create factories and produce iPhones in India. Still, they still can’t get in as they wanted in India.

Collaboration with third-party stores and better services

In addition to opening its own stores Apple seems to be improving agreements with third-party stores and retailers that already sell their products in the country. They are also working to improve the services offered in India to focus on the needs of Indians.

Currently Apple ranks 11th on the most selling mobile manufacturers list in India, this position refers to no more than 1% of sales in the country. A country with much lower incomes than others where Apple operates and where it therefore needs to minimize the final price of the iPhone. Hence in India they are selling models from previous years such as the iPhone 6s at lower prices. Another example is Apple Music, which costs less than 1.30 euros per month.