Apple to open online store in key Indian market         

India’s 1.3bn people represents a large, under-served smartphone market that is becoming an increasingly important focus for Apple. File picture

Apple is poised to open an online store for the first time in the fast-growing smartphone market of India next month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, taking advantage of a relaxation of once-strict prohibitions against foreign direct retail.

The online store will be ready for operations just ahead of the festive Dussehra-Diwali spending season, according to the source. 

The iPhone maker, which lobbied New Delhi for years to get around regulations that force companies such as Apple to source 30% of components locally, had originally planned to start online sales within months after the government relaxed the rule last year. Those plans were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

India’s 1.3bn people represents a large, under-served smartphone market that is becoming an increasingly important focus for Apple even as the pandemic raged this year. 

The iPhone maker, which has just made history by surpassing $2trn in market value, is boosting investments in the South Asian country to reduce its dependence on China both as a market and manufacturing base amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The company also plans to open a second brick-and-mortar store in the technology hub of Bangalore, following an outlet in Mumbai that will be its first physical location in the country, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

Apple currently offers its devices in India through stores owned by franchise partners and via online platforms. 

- Bloomberg