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Apple to Triple Reseller Network in India to 200 Stores by 2015
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Don't suppose they could fill the stores with local accessories and meet the requirement?? Doesn't seem that difficult, if the story is as simple as it's portrayed
which it normally isn't.
They have some authorized resellers there for a long time. Don't know the exact time when they started, but I definitely bought a PowerBook in the Powai Mall in Mumbai in 2003.
In the big cities you have quite some resellers (iStore, Maple, Unicorn etc.) and there are in-store Apple sections at some big electronic chains like Croma.
And while these stores are busy, they are nowhere as packed as Apple stores elsewhere. Apple's products are simply too far out of reach for most people. E.g. my driver in Mumbai (speaking perfect English and a qualified tourist guide) would have to spend the entire salary for 7 months to buy the cheapest iPhone 5, my doctor still an entire monthly salary. The standard Lenovo laptop the company I worked for there handed out to managers (not regular staff) was $450 (including Windows 7 Pro, a bag and 3 years on the spot support).
If Apple plans to expand its retail presence in India that drastically, I assume they have at least some lower priced items in the pipeline.
I ve been born and bred in India. From what i read , it hurts me to know that your car's overqualified driver (not "your" driver) earns so little :a meagre Rs 6000-6500(cheapest iphone 5 45500. 7 mnonths salary . rs 6500).He will do better if he gets into government's NREGA scheme (i ve heard they earn on an average >7k /month but then you will lose "your" driver).Also I am a med student (at AIIMS ,delhi). The starting salary of a guy fresh into medicine in a govt hospital is 55k a month (I own an iphone on credit card emu).The salary of practising doctors on an average is over 100000 rupees per month these days esp in Delhi , Mumbai
Anyhow , Apple will never succeed like Samsung in India because there are no contracts or subsidies by Indian careers and Samsung targets all price ranges. Apple, in a poor country like mine , will always be the brand of elite at least till the near future .
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If I understand correctly iStore is actually a mini store with in an electronics retailer Reliance Digital, one of the Apple's franchisee in India.
Not now. Recently India approved IKEA, Walmart and AirAsia just to name a few. To maintain incentives any retailer has to source 30% locally within 10 years of Indian operations. Not a problem for a furniture store or a big box retailer. Huge problem for a consumer electronics seller with only few products.
Currency pressure keeps imports regulated
In India 80% of the dollar trading happens on Oil which is eating up the cash reserve and makes the oil purchase (along with subsidy) creating trade deficit. Coupled with Mobile imports which are hitting the roof, Indian currency will be pushed down making oil import much more expensive and will keep inflation at a high level. So to control imports Indian government is putting various restrictions. Going forward buying any mobile phone shall attract nearly $40 per device additional customs duty....
Though FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) bill is passed for 100% sourcing still will be restricted. Indian government encourages Apple, Nokia,Samsung to start their manufacturing in India instead just sales & distribution.
In India 80% of the dollar trading happens on Oil which is eating up the cash reserve and makes the oil purchase (along with subsidy) creating trade deficit. Coupled with Mobile imports which are hitting the roof, Indian currency will be pushed down making oil import much more expensive and will keep inflation at a high level. So to control imports Indian government is putting various restrictions. Going forward buying any mobile phone shall attract nearly $40 per device additional customs duty....
Though FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) bill is passed for 100% sourcing still will be restricted. Indian government encourages Apple, Nokia,Samsung to start their manufacturing in India instead just sales & distribution.
Have you ever been to Detroit? Well, thats what it looks like when huge numbers of "silly" manufacturing jobs leave your country.
If you can find a way to bring 1.2 billion high paying tech jobs to India, I'm sure they would love to know how. In the mean time, its nice to keep people busy with money coming in to pay for things like food and clothing.
The idea is to keep all your jobs from going elsewhere and ultimately triggering an economic collapse. Funny that other countries can do this but its just impossible here in the US. We could use some of those "silly" manufacturing jobs right now.
Listen, it is very common to refer to the person who drives me as "my driver", nobody says "my car's driver", I also say "my secretary" and not "my anteroom's secretary". This does indicate what they are doing, and not any kind of possession.
I do not like to pay people so little for their work, but "my" car's lessor de facto forbid me to pay him more, practically telling me, that I would have to look for a car elsewhere, if I cause an uproar among his staff.
Even worse. I decided to pay my maid Rs. 10000 per month (which happens to be Rs. 6000 more than what my Indian neighbours pay "their" maids) and because she was doing well, I also paid her daughter's school fees (Rs. 5000). The result? I was literally shouted at and attacked by one of my Indian neighbours and the security team of our gated community was instructed to deny her the entry.
From what I have seen, it is normally not expats and foreigners refusing to pay the people more money, it's always wealthy Indians that do not want to grant 'lower class' people anything. Having been in the country as an expat several times between 1987 and 2012, I have seen that again and again. And at some point you just lose interest in doing anything about it.
It sounds like a severe waste of a life served up by a union, to me. Go to school, get a degree in engineering, and build a robot that'll do that job for you, better than you could have, and for the rest of time.
The human race is capable of so much more than its done in the last few decades. Compare the advancements made from 1928 - 1970 with the advancements made from 1970 - 2012. In the first period we invented nuclear engineers, nuclear bombs, kept a dog's head alive for days, and flew to the moon. In the second period we managed to shrink transistors a bunch of time and commercialize a bunch of technology that had already existed.
Based on the progress made in the first period, I feel we should have commercial flights to the moon by now, should have been to Mars by now, and some amongst us shouldn't have to die - maybe none of us should.
Instead, we have unions and morals that said "oh wait, it's not humane to learn how to sustain life in that which should be dead. And lord no, we shouldn't make technology that makes labor unnecessary - god forbid people need to go to university to be productive members of society."
If you're unskilled, here's an idea: get skilled! You shouldn't need a degree to realize why you need a degree - the reason why should be apparent to you before you're in high school.
Haha! Enlighten us, please? If it weren't for such policies, India would have been inundated with foreign brands (mostly manufactured in China / some other sweatshop country anyways) and the local manufacturing capacity would have been killed.
Thankfully, most people here don't give a damn about which brand they buy, as long it is of good quality. Better than being brand-addicts any day.
And the Indian government considers that a majority of the population needs well-paying jobs (which is why many people move from villages to cities every year), and manufacturing is a crucial employment sector.
Unlike the American government (the Republican party in fact) which legislated bills creating all the 'outsourcing' dilemma than USA faces. And brand-sticker addicts who don't care about their goods' origin as long as they are cheaper somehow, making other-country sweatshops come into play.
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And self destructing...
Self destructive?! How?!
You have seriously lost your logic right? Refer to my post above.
Self destructing because the local manufacturers get lazy... They know they are protected... So they refuse to innovate or make any sorts of progress... They just stop bothering about it...
And I don't need to read your armchair expert comments... I live here... And I'm in the manufacturing industry... I definitely know alot more about here than you do boy...
India is rather a hard place for apple to make money. Steve jobs always want apple products to be 'mercedes'. For majority of the masses in india just want to use their 'mobile' to call their own folks in the rural areas from urban areas, simple hand phone will do. And some even get the used one from street stalls and there are cheap professional phone 'repair' on the streets in case of defects. It does not take a rocket scientist to say apple is not going anywhere with high price product. I have seen miracles the roadside 'fixers' have done to fix my electronic products, somehow they know what they are doing.
Closed to what Jesus turn water into wine. That is what I missed about India.
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Its the electronic hub of Delhi and in short, is India at its digital wackiest . THe first sight that greets you is hundereds of street boys screaming "SOFTWARE SOFTWARE" and hawking pirated windows ,adobe CS suits . THousands of hovel-like shops sell all kinds of pc s , macs , cameras etc at ridiculous bargains . Every time i go there , i get the same thrill that i get on standing in the glossy Times Square .Dont know why !!
If you ever visit New Delhi, do visit a mosyt surreal place for any geek: Nehru Place
Its the electronic hub of Delhi and in short, is India at its digital wackiest . THe first sight that greets you is hundereds of street boys screaming "SOFTWARE SOFTWARE" and hawking pirated windows ,adobe CS suits . THousands of hovel-like shops sell all kinds of pc s , macs , cameras etc at ridiculous bargains . Every time i go there , i get the same thrill that i get on standing in the glossy Times Square .Dont know why !!