It is time we get official Apple stores in India, the company is said to have filed an application for setting up Offline and Online stores, with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The application is said to have come after the government has relaxed the FDI or Foreign Direct Investment norms for single-brand retail stores earlier in November.
The relaxation of FDI in single-brand retails will help companies to sell their products through retail, wholesale and e-commerce route along with relaxation of 30 percent domestic sourcing rule. DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant confirmed the filing of application by Apple and said “We have just received Apple’s proposal. We are examining it”.
Apple has been looking to set up stores in India from past couple of years, but with strict FDI policies the implementation of the plans was a problem. With the relaxation of the FDI in single-brand retail, we can expect close to 500 stores in India which was being rumored earlier to sell iPhones and iPads in the country. With the new policies we can even expect the Macbooks and iMac’s making way to Apple Stores in India in the near future.
Till date Apple had to sell its products through authorized Apple Premium Resellers, now we can get hands on the latest Apple gadgets directly in their own stores. There was an idea about a store-within-a-store concept with Croma. Tim Cook has highlighted the importance of Indian market for the company while showcasing Apple’s Q3, 2015 earnings where India was reportedly ahead of Greater China in terms on revenue. The revenue in India is said to have crossed $1 billion mark and the growth is said to be an astounding 93 percent.
With the new update we can expect that both Apple and Consumers will be happy. Whether the prices of Apple products in India will come down is not confirmed but certainly hope for the best.
Source: Appleinsider
