Apple’s First Online Store To Open in India This Year, Physical Store Next Year

Believe it or not, Apple has so far relied on electronic stores and third-party sellers to get their iPhones in the hands of people in India. Well, that’s about to change this year, when the company is getting ready to open their first official online store.

India is the second largest smartphone market in the world so at first Apple’s reluctance or impossibility to open stores there is quite confusing. Until you realize that in India there are competing mobile companies that get smartphones out at under $300.

Most iPhones can’t compete with those prices (although, there’s hope for iPhone SE2). Plus, there are the import taxes to be considered. There hasn’t been an official statement from Apple’s part on why they’ve not made a move in that territory but they have started easing their way into that territory by using their contractors to assemble smartphones locally and bypass this issue.

All in all, the new strategy brought Apple a sales increase, shipping about 925,000 iPhones at the end of 2019.

That’s made Tim Cook reconsider.

At the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Apple’s CEO told investors he was “a huge believer in the opportunity in India. It’s a country with a vibrancy and demographics that are just unparalleled.” Well, we can’t argue with that.

So, this year, the first official Apple online store will open and next year, iPhone fans will have the chance to buy their phones directly from an Apple brick-and-mortar store.