According to Taiwanese media reports on May 12, Apple is rumored to have finalized a list of locations to set up its first retail store in India to once again crack down on the world's fastest-growing smartphone market. Taiwan's Hon Hai's move to India to assemble high-end iPhone, will also add to Apple's Indian layout.
Taiwan's "Economic Daily" website quoted Bloomberg as saying on May 8 that Apple has now considered several high-end areas in Mumbai and plans to make a final decision within a few weeks. And the location under consideration is comparable to that of Apple on Fifth Avenue in New York, Regent Street in London or Champs Elysees in Paris.
According to the report, Apple has been unable to open direct retail stores in India because it is unable to meet the requirements that a certain proportion of manufacturing raw materials come from India. But Apple is moving some of its production lines to India and talking to the local government about setting up retail stores.
Hon Hai, Apple's most important contract manufacturer, is testing the quality of the iPhone XR series made in India and plans to start mass production at the Kinai plant. The moves to boost production locally should help Apple speed up approval to set up direct retail stores in India, sources said.
According to the report, Apple's current development in the Indian market is limited. Local consumers prefer affordable mainland-branded smartphones such as Xiaomi and vivo. However, as Apple loses market share in Greater China, CEO Cook vowed to improve iPhone sales in India.
