No Apple Store in India unless it sells more local-made goods
Apple has been making an effort to conquer India to boost its declining iPhone sales, but things aren’t going too well for the company. According to Reuters, the Indian government has rejected Cupertino’s request to allow it to open official Apple Stores in the country even though most of its products are made in China. See, under the country’s new laws (specifically the Make-in-India initiative), 30 percent of the goods a foreign high-tech retailer sells should made in India. A public official told Reuters that Apple “didn’t provide any material on record to justify” its request for a waiver. India also rejected the company’s plan to sell imported, refurbished iPhones in the country earlier this month.
A few days ago, Tim Cook met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his plans for expansion, and sources said that those plans include opening up three Apple Stores by 2017. At the moment, Cupertino mainly sells goods in India through franchise stores that exclusively sells products from the company. While it’s very much possible for a multi-billion dollar tech titan to find a way around that requirement, it might take a while for Apple to launch official stores in the country.
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