INDIA: On Tuesday, around 300 people queued outside Apple’s (AAPL.O) store in Mumbai as fans snapped photographs with CEO Tim Cook, who opened the company’s first retail store in India, underscoring the significance of its market.
Apple opens its first store in India
“The energy, creativity, and passion in Mumbai is incredible! We are so excited to open Apple BKC—our first store in India,” Cook said on Twitter.
In an opening event that featured regional music and folk dancers, people rushed to the store from all across India in an attempt to be among the first to enter.
Some people queued outside the store the previous night to get their hands on Apple products, although they’re available online in India.
“The fanboy inside me would not listen,” said a customer, as he waited to get Tim Cook’s autograph on his boxed, mint-condition iPod Touch that he had purchased on eBay, as well as waiting to purchase the Apple Watch Ultra.
Many visitors had their hair cut into the shape of the Apple logo, many wore T-shirts in the style that co-founder Steve Jobs preferred, and one supporter even brought a 1984 model of the company’s very first computer.
“The vibe here is just different,” a fan added, who flew to the opening in India’s commercial capital from the western industrial city of Ahmedabad.
“It’s not like shopping at a regular store. There is simply no comparison. It’s quite thrilling,” he added.
His fondness for Apple products drove him to store openings as a young student in Boston and New York, where he once got the opportunity to meet Cook, he stated.
Apple has previously experienced difficulties opening physical retail outlets in the South Asian country, but its items have been available on e-commerce platforms since its online store launched in 2020.
The opening of the new retailer coincides with a growing trend among Indian consumers to replace their basic, often under-$120 handsets with glitzier models that provide more robust feature sets. Even still, Apple’s expensive phones are affordable for only a few in India, where the company holds just a 3% market share.
The new store, which is located in Reliance’s Jio World Drive mall, was officially opened on Monday during a private event. In the evening, Cook has seen meeting with a number of Indian movie and television celebrities.
On Thursday, a second store in Delhi, the nation’s capital, is set to open. Cook will meet with the deputy IT minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this week, sources said.
Mumbai’s Apple retail space is around 20,800 square feet, and it costs over 42 lakh rupees a month to rent. Meanwhile, the Delhi outlet is significantly smaller than the Mumbai store and is estimated to cost around Rs 40 lakh per month.
Some of Apple’s products, including iPhones, are put together in India by Taiwanese contract electronics makers Wistron Corp. (3231.TW) and Foxconn (2317.TW) as the company works to expand its manufacturing base. It also intends to manufacture AirPods and iPads in India.
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