Apple to Start Online iPhone, iPad and Mac Sales in India in Third Quarter

[MacRumors]

Apple will be opening an online Apple Store in India to start official online sales of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and more in the country starting in the third quarter of 2020, reports TechCrunch.

The news comes courtesy of a "source familiar with the matter," and Apple's online store rollout is taking a "little longer than previously expected." Apple originally wanted to begin online sales in the country in the first quarter of 2020.

Apple last summer said that it was "eager" to bring online and in-store sales to customers in India. Apple is still working on the logistics of setting up the store, with the quarter between July and September set as the new deadline.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to take a trip to India when Apple is ready to begin online sales.

At the current time, Apple device sales in India are done through third-party retailers as Apple did not have permission to sell devices in the country due to foreign investment rules and regulations.

In August 2019, India eased the rules that had kept Apple from offering its products in first-party stores and an online Apple Store. Apple is now said to be working on opening up retail locations in India, with a store in Mumbai in the works.

Article Link: Apple to Start Online iPhone, iPad and Mac Sales in India in Third Quarter

 

[JPack]

The main issue here isn’t online sales. It’s the price and the in-store support (warranty) for iPhone. I don’t think this will change much but it’s a step in the right direction.

 

[xizdun]

About time, and a step in the right direction. Apple products are still a premium that only a fraction of Indians can afford.

 

[m4mario]

HomePod is yet to launch in India. Currently, you just can’t buy a HomePod in Indian Apple stores or any authorized retailers. That’s just sad.

 

[PickUrPoison]

HomePod is yet to launch in India. Currently, you just can’t buy a HomePod in Indian Apple stores or any authorized retailers. That’s just sad.

Is it? Not to me. I think there are higher priorities for both HomePod and for India.

HomePod for India is probably somewhere around 699th on my list of things I’d like Apple to do.

Edit: lol shows what I know. Not even 12 hours since posting this, you’ll be getting your wish @m4mario:

HomePod Coming Soon to India

Apple plans to make its HomePod speaker available in India in the near future, according to an updated HomePod section on the Apple India website. ...

www.macrumors.com

 

[raghupro]

Might not have much impact right away but a move in the right direction. Sales and service in India are handled by third party authorised resellers as of now and sadly there are no concrete guidelines set to provide service on par with the countries where Apple operates directly. There have been many reported issues from various customers about service being turned down even with issues that are quite evident.

Only hope now is for Apple to start operating in India directly and improve their customer service.

Apart from that, once Apple operates directly I just hope their pricing gets better, especially with iPhones. Their iPhones are priced at almost 40% higher than what people pay in the US, all thanks to multiple layers of distribution and high import duties. Through relaxed FDI (foreign direct investment) norms Apple will be getting tax relaxation from Government of India and hope this is passed on to consumers with some price cuts on their iPhones.

 

[code-m]

Is it? Not to me. I think there are higher priorities for both HomePod and for India.

HomePod for India is probably somewhere around 699th on my list of things I’d like Apple to do.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and emotion, if that individual feels it’s sad then that is how their feel. If you disagree then that does not make either sentiment incorrect. It’s not about you.

 

[riteshritesh]

Apart from that, once Apple operates directly I just hope their pricing gets better, especially with iPhones. Their iPhones are priced at almost 40% higher than what people pay in the US, all thanks to multiple layers of distribution and high import duties.

Damn Right and quite a lot of the Indian Apple Users, have access to getting their iDevices from the US. Till the time, pricing is not made at par with US prices, parallel imports will thrive. I suppose local manufacturing along with elimination of 3rd party distributors, will get this differentials in order to some extent.

 

[TheCoolGuy]

One good thing about this is, we will be able to get different configurations of Mac. Currently we get only the base models with 8GB RAM.

 

[mobi-logic]

Apart from prices, the biggest complaint is that non-default configuration for MACs are simply not provided in the country. Even if you are ready to spend money, you will end up getting only base configuration machines.

Looking forward to online/offline stores so that customer is provided with the choices.