Rumors about Apple’s own retail outlet in India has been surfacing for quite some time now. Yesterday at its annual shareholders meeting at Steve Jobs Theater Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that Apple will open its first retail store in India in 2021. He said that the company had to seek special approval for this because the Indian government wanted it to work with a partner. “We wouldn’t be a very good partner in retail. We like to do things our way,” he said.
He also said that Apple will start selling its products on its online store starting this year. The company is currently selling its products online on Flipkart, Amazon.in, Paytm Mall, and offline through third-party brand-authorized retailers.
A report from last year said that Apple has chosen Mumbai’s Maker Maximity Mall in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) as the venue for its first own India outlet and added that Apple has leased around 20,000-25,000 sq ft space for its outlet and is spread over three floors in the Maker Maximity Mall. It is said to be the largest Apple Store in India and will be three times the size of Apple Flagship Premium Reseller’s 8000 sq.ft outlet in Mumbai which opened in August 2019.
Apple is said to be planning to open 2-3 retail offline retail stores in India in the next few years.