Apple Inc, the technology giant in all set to open its first retail store in India as it wins the clearance by the Indian government, as it seeks to expand itself in the second most populous country.
According to Bloomberg, The Indian government is planning to push through Apple’s application to set up outlets, the anonymous source said. The Cupertino based tech is ‘resubmitting the request’, the person said.
However, the source did not reveal the time-frame for the final approval.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has been hunting down for fresh markets of growth since the company last month forecast, which witnessed a decline in sales for the first time in more than a decade. India is considered a viable option since, it is the fastest-growing major economy, and have about 220 million smartphone users. The challenge however, is that the Indian consumer prefer economical devices, leaving Apple with a merely 2 percent of the market.
"Most of the growth in India will come from new users coming into the Apple ecosystem, unlike in the West where growth is mainly from existing users upgrading," said Tarun Pathak, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Technology Market Research. “You can expect the stores to focus mostly on iPhones,” he added.
Cook said last month that he’s optimistic India’s business environment will improve and that he’s looking to increase investment in the country.
Pathak was of the view, that Apple is likely to carry on with its policy of major discounting on older models to woo new customers.
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