AFP, New Delhi :
The gleaming glass atriums and blue-clad “geniuses” that herald the arrival of an Apple store could soon be landing in India, after the government cleared the way for it to open in the rapidly growing smartphone market.
Before now, the Silicon Valley giant has been just a bit-player in the country of 1.2 billion, selling through local shops with none of its own.
It applied to open stores in January, but was reportedly rebuffed because of a diktat that states foreign retailers must source 30 percent of their products locally.
But on Monday New Delhi relaxed the rules, just weeks after Apple chief Tim Cook toured India on a breathless charm offensive where he was pictured using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gold iPhone to launch the premier’s own app.
Companies making state-of-the-art technology-understood to include Apple-now have up to eight years to meet the sourcing requirements under a waiver, part of a push by India’s pro-business government to attract foreign investment and create jobs.
For Apple, which saw iPhone sales dip for the first time ever in the second quarter due to slowing demand in China and the United States, India is a tantalising prospect.
While analysts say it currently accounts for only around one percent of global iPhone sales, its giant population and low number of smartphone owners relative to its size mean it is a huge potential market.
“Apple has not really seen India as an important enough market in the past, but somewhere, the penny has dropped,” Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of retail consultancy Third Eyesight, told AFP.
Apple’s vast, hands-on stores are designed to become destinations in their own right, analysts say, luring potential customers with the promise they can play without buying.
“The store is not just a place to do business-it acts as a live billboard for the brand,” Dutta said.
Browsing mobile accessories in FutureWorld, a technology retailer in New Delhi’s Connaught Place, Aryamaan Chauhan said he would “definitely” visit an Apple store if one opened in the city.
The 19-year-old IT student owns an Android smartphone, bought for about 20,000 rupees ($295), but is considering switching loyalties.
The gleaming glass atriums and blue-clad “geniuses” that herald the arrival of an Apple store could soon be landing in India, after the government cleared the way for it to open in the rapidly growing smartphone market.
Before now, the Silicon Valley giant has been just a bit-player in the country of 1.2 billion, selling through local shops with none of its own.
It applied to open stores in January, but was reportedly rebuffed because of a diktat that states foreign retailers must source 30 percent of their products locally.
But on Monday New Delhi relaxed the rules, just weeks after Apple chief Tim Cook toured India on a breathless charm offensive where he was pictured using Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gold iPhone to launch the premier’s own app.
Companies making state-of-the-art technology-understood to include Apple-now have up to eight years to meet the sourcing requirements under a waiver, part of a push by India’s pro-business government to attract foreign investment and create jobs.
For Apple, which saw iPhone sales dip for the first time ever in the second quarter due to slowing demand in China and the United States, India is a tantalising prospect.
While analysts say it currently accounts for only around one percent of global iPhone sales, its giant population and low number of smartphone owners relative to its size mean it is a huge potential market.
“Apple has not really seen India as an important enough market in the past, but somewhere, the penny has dropped,” Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of retail consultancy Third Eyesight, told AFP.
Apple’s vast, hands-on stores are designed to become destinations in their own right, analysts say, luring potential customers with the promise they can play without buying.
“The store is not just a place to do business-it acts as a live billboard for the brand,” Dutta said.
Browsing mobile accessories in FutureWorld, a technology retailer in New Delhi’s Connaught Place, Aryamaan Chauhan said he would “definitely” visit an Apple store if one opened in the city.
The 19-year-old IT student owns an Android smartphone, bought for about 20,000 rupees ($295), but is considering switching loyalties.
