Apple opens first retail store in Delhi

Apple CEO Tim Cook has opened the company’s first official retail store in the national capital, Delhi, located in the Select Citywalk Mall in the Saket neighborhood.

The store’s design takes inspiration from Delhi’s many gates. While the Saket store is smaller than the one opened in Mumbai, it is staffed by more than 70 highly skilled retail team members who collectively speak more than 15 languages.

Sources siad that the Apple Saket store in Delhi is half the size of the Mumbai store where the company will pay a portion of total sales from the store as rent or Rs 40 lakh per month, whichever is higher.

Cook during his visit met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the iPhone manufacturer is looking to invest more in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

According to government sources, the iPhone maker is likely to double the employment base at its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh soon.

Cook, on his first trip to India in seven years, opened Apple’s first official retail store in the country in Mumbai on Tuesday .

Cook had last visited India in 2016 when the tech giant was just beginning to scale up operations in the country.

Looking to replicate what China did to Apple’s business in the last 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India’s massive market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, and potentially make it a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices.

Cook during his visit met Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

As per the sources, Cook has sought government support to widen its components supplier base in India.

Apple CEO is learnt to have also discussed manufacturing facilities and app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru with both ministers. (With inputs from PTI)