Although after many attempts and many struggles by Apple to open a physical Apple Store in India, and having achieved acceptance by government authorities, the opening of it is delayed due to the pandemic. India has already given the go-ahead to open Apple Store in the country but the data on infections in it are not good at all, that’s why it has been decided to postpone its opening.
India’s first physical Apple Store, due to open later this year, has seen his date delayed sine die, due to COVID-19. The country has been hit hard by the pandemic, with more than 30 million cases and more than 400,000 deaths. This comes after Apple has had to wait many years to get the go-ahead to open its first retail store, due to legal requirements set by the government.
Originally the Indian authorities required foreign companies to manufacture at least 30% of their products in India to open online or retail stores in the country. India hoped to attract manufacturers to the country and offered a combination of incentives and restrictions in its attempt to do so. Apple repeatedly requested exemptions from these premises but could not find what it wanted. But joined other tech giants and that pressure was effective.
Apple opened an online store in the country in September last year, which likely played a major role in tripling Mac sales in the country. It got acceptance for the opening of a physical Apple Store, however its scheduled opening for the end of the year will have to wait. Better late than never and now the main thing is that the country recovers and the data on infections and especially deaths plummet.
