ON NEW GROUND

Although present in India for a long time, Apple has finally made its retail foray. How will this affect its fortunes in the country?

- NIDHI SINGAL

FINALLY, IT'S HERE. Twenty-seven years after Apple entered India, 23 years since it opened its first retail store in the US and more than two years after Apple’s online store was launched in the country, the physical Apple Store has reached Indian shores. On April 18, people lined up to click selfies with Apple CEO Tim Cook—who was in India with Senior Vice President of Retail + People Deirdre O’Brien— at the launch of the first store in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). Two days after throwing open the doors of the BKC store—Apple’s most sustainable company-owned store till date the Cupertino-based tech giant welcomed people into its store in Delhi’s Saket.

Apple’s expansion into the retail space and the presence of Cook to inaugurate the stores reiterates the growing importance of India for the company. “I’m very bullish on India,” Cook had said during a recent earnings call. And a day ahead of the Mumbai store’s shutters going up, Cook had said, “India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.”