As part of his trip to inaugurate the tech giant’s first retail location in India, Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to meet with India’s deputy IT minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Despite just having a 3% market share, Cook’s trip to Mumbai and New Delhi to inaugurate the first formally company-owned stores in the nation demonstrates Apple’s rising interest in India.
Through contract manufacturers, the corporation has been growing iPhone assembly while also raising exports. On Wednesday in New Delhi, Cook will meet Modi and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s deputy minister of information technology.
Requests for response from Apple and the IT ministry were not immediately fulfilled, and Modi’s office declined to comment. Cook’s discussions with Indian government representatives occur as Apple increases its focus on India, the second-largest smartphone market in the world.
Over 50% of the $9 billion worth of cellphones exported from India between April 2022 and February 2023, according to data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association, were iPhones.
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Apple launched its first store in Mumbai on Monday, but only for a closed-door event when bloggers and industry experts could inspect the store’s layout and decor. The Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Swarovski stores are all housed in the Reliance Jio World Drive mall, which also houses the Mumbai location. According to local registration paperwork, it is much larger than the anticipated Delhi outlet at 20,800 square feet.
Apple has made its goods available in India through distributors or online shops like Amazon. A second store will be officially opened within a mall in New Delhi on Thursday, while the Mumbai branch will begin accepting customers on Tuesday.
