Apple is all set to open doors to its first retail store in India soon. Apple’s first retail store is called ‘Apple BKC’ and it is located at the Jio World Drive mall in Mumbai near the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), which it is named after. While Apple hasn’t shared the exact date when it will open doors to the store, a new report says that store opening could happen sooner than later.
According to a report by The Economic Times Telecom, Apple CEO Tim Cook is likely to visit India this month to launch the first retail store in Mumbai. He is likely to be accompanied by Apple’s senior vice-president of retail and people, Dierdre O’Brien.
The report says that Cook, in addition to launching the Apple Store at BKC in Mumbai, will also be meeting key ministers from the Indian government to discuss the company’s expansion plans in India and exports from the country. It is also possible that the Apple CEO would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. Cook had met PM Modi when he last visited India in 2016.
Furthermore, the report says that at the moment, Apple is in the process of finalising Cook’s itinerary for his upcoming India visit and that the launch date for the retail store — Apple BKC — will be decided accordingly.
The launch of the Apple Store in Mumbai is likely to be followed by the launch of another Apple Store in the heart of India’s capital city, that is, Delhi. Industry experts privy to the matter told the publication that the Apple Store at Select CityWalk Mall in Delhi too is ready and that the company could officially open doors the store later this month.
It is worth noting that Cook, while announcing the quarterly results back in February this year had told the analyst that India was a ‘major focus’ for the company and that it was planning to open a retail store in the country soon. At the time, he had also talked about providing more financing options and trade-in options in the country. Now, almost two months later, the company is almost ready to launch its first brick-and-mortar store in the country.