Apple opened its first Apple Store in this country on April 18. A public video showed Apple CEO Tim Cook attending the opening ceremony in Mumbai, welcomed by the crowd.
"The energy, creativity, and passion of Mumbai is incredible. We are excited to open Apple BKC - our first store in India," Cook wrote on Twitter.
Source: Screenshot from Apple CEO Tim Cook's Twitter
Apple has entered the Indian market for almost 25 years. The Indian government requires foreign retailers to purchase no less than 30% of the raw materials locally before they can open stores, which was not so strict in 2019. Before that, Apple products could only be sold online or through other mobile phone dealers in India, according to the Indian media.
Several media outlets have reported that Apple's market share in India's smartphone market is currently between 5% and 6%, which is relatively small compared to brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, and Vivo. According to official statistics from Ministry of Statistics and programme Implementation of India, the average income of regular Indian citizens in urban areas is around INR 21,000 and around INR 15,000 in rural areas. Apple's cheapest phone, iPhone SE, still costs around INR 50,000 in India, so Apple phones are considered high-end market products in India.
CNN reported that in recent years, the global mobile phone production area has shifted from China to India, and Apple has followed this trend by moving the assembling line of iPhone 14 to India last year. Bloomberg reported that Apple's revenue in India grew by 50% in March, compared to the same month in 2022. Some analysts believe that Apple's entry into the Indian market this time imitates the strategy it used 10 years ago when entering the Chinese market, and the Indian market will be Apple's new growth point.