The Apple Store may finally be coming to India.
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The move comes two months after the government eased foreign direct investment (FDI) rules on single-brand retail. With a population of 1.2 billion and smartphone penetration under 20 percent, it holds big potential for companies that are increasingly seeing their markets saturated elsewhere in the world – even in China.
Apple India has filed an application with the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), though the location of the first store is unknown at the moment.
Apple now sells its products in India through franchisees and local distributors.
Currently, Apple is among outliers in the Indian smartphone industry.
Single brand retailers are also allowed to take ecommerce route for such trading.
Smartphone sales in India have soared in recent years. The company likes to use particular kind of material and goods in its stores and that often means importing products like tiles and fixtures. Apple now sells its products through a network of stores-within-stores as a way of circumventing the Indian government restrictions.
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The Cupertino, US-based company, saw its revenue from India jump about 10 times in the financial year ended March 2014 to Rs.4,500 crore from Rs. 446 crore in FY10, as per the filings to the registrar of companies. It also plans to launch a handful of new “store-in-store” mini-shops in outlets run by Croma, an electronics outfit owned by Tata Group. But if Apple ends up opening its own stores then customers in India will finally get to experience the proper Apple sales and service experience. It’s clear that Cook’s meeting with India’s Prime Minister in September opened the door for the changes made in November by the Indian Government.
