First Apple Store To Open In India In 2021

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc AAPL has revealed that the company will open its first retail stores in India in 2021, BBC reported.

What Happened

Speaking at the Apple Shareholders’ meeting held in the Steve Jobs Theater Cupertino, California, on Wednesday, Cook revealed that the company would open its first retail stores in India in 2021 and an online store later this year.

According to the BBC, the company had to take special permission from the Indian government to open its retail stores in India without a local partner.

Patrick McGee, the San Francisco correspondent for the Financial Times, tweeted that Apple had been working on opening a store in India for years, but the local government insisted it works with a partner. The Apple CEO said, “We wouldn’t be a very good partner in retail. We like to do things our way.”

Why It Matters

India is an important global mobile market that has experienced very strong growth over the last six years.

At the end of March 2019, India had a total of 1,183.51 million mobile subscribers and was the second-largest telecommunications market in the world.

Apple’s net sales in the Asia Pacific region, including India, were $17,788 million in 2019. Sales rose 2% compared to the $17,407 million number in 2018.

Price Action

Apple shares traded 0.80% lower at $290.30 in the after-hours session on Wednesday. The shares had closed the regular session 1.59% higher at $292.65.