Apple wanting to expand its presence in India isn’t a new development, but according to a new report from the India Times, the company has recently taken a major step in accomplishing that goal. According to the report, Apple has just filed an application with the Indian government to open its own branded retail stores in the company.
Apple filed the proposal with the department of industrial policy and promotion, or DIPP, which confirmed that it has received the document. “We have just received Apple’s proposal. We are examining it,” DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant stated.
The company reportedly left specific details out of the proposal, only stating that it wishes to operate its own branded retail stores in the country and to sell products online. It’s unclear how large of an investment Apple wants to make in India, although in the past it has expressed its extraordinary interest in the country, citing significant growth in the country as its motive.
The Indian government has been relaxing its requirements on foreign company investments, making it easier for company’s like Apple to establish a presence. In the past, India has required that any company perform a certain percentage of manufacturing in the country if they want to operate retail outlets.
Apple’s relationship with India has been growing over the past few months. CEO Tim Cook met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in September to discuss the possibility of Apple increasing its presence in the country. Apple also signed a deal with consumer electronics retail chain Croma that saw Croma build Apple-dedicated retail spaces in six of its retail locations.
Last year, revenue for Apple in India also recently broke a billion dollars thanks to its launch of an aggressive trade-in program. Apple has said in the past that its growth in India is outstripping that of China, and an increase in retail availability would only expedite that process.
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So, the prophecy is coming true. Hope, the second-tier cities aren’t neglected
With a middle class population on par with China, only a fool would think Apple wouldn’t eventually expand into India. Can you imagine how many iPhones would be given as dowry gifts LOL
:D yup, than Bihar and Punjab would be a special place.
‘m from Guwahati, so keeping my fingers crossed
Prophecy?
Haha..
Considering just the other week they were saying Indians were too poor to buy phones at Apple prices and would need discounts, or cheap models for that market, then I guess after one store in Mumbai and Delhi it’s done. Apple was forced to use agents and they couldn’t shift them…
Middle class and income numbers don’t compare with China at all – and in the cities, India is still working on basic sanitation and power…. China way beyond that and far less corrupt and easier to do business with.
If commenter above has proof of being anywhere close to China I would love to see it, recently being in both countries, the comparison is plainly not there.
China has greater problems than India, a lot of the youth knows martial-arts but are jobless and therefore forced in the army. But the main thing being, China is not a democratic country and often being compared to America it sees everyone as a competitor more profusely the democratic states, therefore it’s more important for them to not portray their negative aspects (including the actual unemployment) as it defines weakness to their stand and an advantage they regard as enemies as-well-as the possible challenge to the system of their government in the foreseeable future.
India is on a whole different level, the negative aspect u’ve seen is ‘coz of the media which isn’t false but thats not the entire summary. As for the iPhones selling there, there are two points here:
One, you might have gone through the recent news of $1Billion sales in India within a year and with iPhones alone, that, happening with the absence of any official Apple stores.
Two, How many of Westerners buy the iPhone unlocked? Here, there’s no Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, At&T but buying an unlocked model that too not by online but with people’s preference of going themselves to stores.
Still, the major issue being the prices are not consistent like in the US, people would rather buy a Motorbike with $1200s than an iPhone, since if they buy one, only with the argument of replacing there laptops, you need iTunes, which, is an issue.
Their debate is dollar-rupee value but the prices can’t be that drastically different when Motorola and Samsung are already here with Moto G also a success here.
And, whatever price reductions that were made in India it was not at all any lower than the price offered in the US soil, moreover, the so-called cheap pricing is still above the prices, sold in the native lands of America.
As for the reductions in price made to the iPhone 5s, no one is that helpless in India. People are aware of the competition.
You still need a gmail account (or other) to operate an iCloud account which is nothing advantageous about it, other than that, gmail, Evernote, Facebook or games like NFS (or my favourite Injustice: Gods Among Us) is pretty much equally available well outside Apple. But don’t worry, Apple still got sales and still will. All this is like sea water showing only the tip of the ice-berg
If you really want to compare the economy, look at the gold reserves in India and the amount of Gold Indians buy during Dhanteras, don’t make iPhone as a form of currency. Basically, people are smart here in India and even from the poorest of the classes has the capability to become the CEO of google or any tech giants that too without iPads or smart classes. iPhones doesn’t carry a permanent value, and most probably by next year there would be a new one but ‘m not saying you wouldn’t get sales and can’t get sales because of budget, they still got sales, they did and it’s not budget but expenditure here is regarded as an investment since, mathematics is our mother-tounge
If you want to know about the actual middle classes in India, find out each middle classes spending for science stream, coaching in Class 11, 12 and IIT across India per year alone. And yes, teens don’t work in McDonalds
विकास के दौड़ में मेरा भारत !
to open its own branded retail stores in the ‘company’ ?