Apple’s first store will open in India this month: iPhone and Apple service will be available in Mukesh Ambani’s Jio World Drive Mall.
Tech company Apple is soon going to open its first flagship retail store ‘Apple BKC’ in India. This store will be opened in Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s Jio World Drive Mall. This mall is located in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.
Released official teaser, wrote- ‘Hello Mumbai’
Apple has put up a banner in the mall which reads, ‘Apple BKC coming soon’. The company has also released a teaser on the website of Apple India Store. It reads, ‘Hello Mumbai. We are getting ready to welcome you to our first store in India.
Customers will be able to exchange Apple devices
According to the official website, customers will be able to exchange their Apple devices at the store. In addition, they will get Apple Store gift cards for purchasing products from the store. They will also get the option of ‘Genius Bar’. Expert service and support is provided in this. Buyers will be able to place an online order for any device and pick it up from the store.
Tim Cook had announced to open stores in India in 2020
The launch of Apple Stores in India has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During Apple’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in 2020, CEO Tim Cook said that he does not want ‘someone else to run the brand for us’ in India. But Apple’s plan to open stores in 2021 was derailed due to the pandemic.
For years, Apple’s retail partners have been running third-party stores in Indian cities big and small, but they have not been able to provide the same experience as found on New York’s 5th Avenue, London’s Regent Street or Singapore’s Marina Bay. Apple’s stores are some of the most successful retail outlets in the world and are extremely profitable.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs opened the first Apple Store in Virginia in 2001. Many people had predicted their failure then, but the company’s strategy of opening stores was extremely successful. Apple now has more than 500 retail stores, most of them in the US, followed by China.
Apple is part of the PLI scheme of the Government of India.
Apple’s contract manufacturers are part of the Indian government’s Rs 41,000 crore Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI). It is only after this scheme that iPhone manufacturing has picked up in India. In 2020, the Government of India launched the PLI Scheme. Through this scheme, companies from outside countries get an opportunity to take advantage of local manufacturing, as well as earn incentives on it.
iPhones being made in India since 2017
Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with the iPhone SE. It has three Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) partners – Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. After iPhone SE, manufacturing of iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 was also done in India. Foxconn’s plant is in Sriperumbudur near Chennai.
