By Michael Elkins
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) opened its first store in India on Tuesday, highlighting the importance of the market to the company’s future.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has long viewed India as a key market to Apple’s future and in February he said he was “bullish” on the world’s fifth-largest economy and the company is putting a “significant amount of energy” into the market.
The first store, named Apple BKC, is located in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. The company on Thursday will open another store in the capital of Delhi.
“India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history,” Cook said in a press release published Monday.
“At Apple, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and our teams are excited to celebrate this wonderful moment with them as we open our first retail store in India,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “Apple BKC is a reflection of Mumbai’s vibrant culture and brings together the best of Apple in a beautiful, welcoming space for connection and community.”
For Apple, India also represents a key part of its manufacturing strategy for the future.
Apple began assembling its iPhone 14 in India last year — the first time that the company has produced its latest device in the country, so close to its initial launch. Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of commerce and industry, said in January that Apple is aiming to make 25% of all of its iPhones in India.
Part of the move in India is tied to the government’s push to bring high-tech manufacturing to the country. But Apple is also trying to diversify its assembly of products away from China after the COVID pandemic and the strict measures Beijing took to control the outbreak exposed weaknesses in the supply chain.
Shares of AAPL are up 0.88% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.