About 200 Apple Fans hoping to be among the lucky few to enter the tech giant’s first retail store in India gathered outside the store in the commercial capital Mumbai early Tuesday.
People came from different parts of India to catch a glimpse of the Chief Executive Tim cookwho will inaugurate the 2,600-square-foot store and open it to the public later in the day.
“The vibe here is just different,” said 23-year-old Aan Shah, who traveled from the western industrial city of Ahmedabad to attend the launch. “It’s not like buying from a regular store. There’s just no comparison. It’s so exciting.”
His love of Apple has previously led him to store openings in New York and Boston, where he once had the opportunity to meet Cook.
Apple previously struggled to open physical retail stores in the South Asian nation, but its products were available on e-commerce sites while its online store opened in 2020.
The new store at Reliance’s leading Jio World Drive mall underscores Apple’s growing ambitions for India, where despite a market share of just 3 percent, it is expanding iPhone assembly through contract manufacturers and also boosting its exports.
The store opened Monday at a private event for bloggers and tech analysts, while many Indian film and TV stars met Cook that evening.
A second store in the capital Delhi is scheduled to open on Thursday.
As Apple pushes to make India a larger manufacturing base, some of its products, including iPhonesare sold in the country by Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron Corp.
Installation is also planned iPads And AirPods in India.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
