Bloomberg: Apple to Open India Online Store Next Month

Apple is preparing to open its first online store in India next month, according to a new report today from Bloomberg.

apple india

Apple Inc. is poised to open an online store for the first time in the fast-growing smartphone market of India next month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, taking advantage of a relaxation of once-strict prohibitions against foreign direct retail.

The online store will be ready for operations just ahead of the festive Dussehra-Diwali spending season, according to the person, who asked not to be named discussing confidential plans.

Sales of Apple products have long been limited to third-party resellers in India, because of restrictions on foreign companies that require them to source 30 percent of production locally.

In August 2019, India eased these rules keeping Apple from offering its products in first-party stores and an online Apple Store. Apple had originally intended to start online sales within months of the rule change, but the global health crisis reportedly scuppered those plans.

TechCrunch first reported in January that Apple would open an online ‌Apple Store‌ in India to start official direct sales of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and more in the country starting in the third quarter of 2020.

With the rules changed, Apple is also set to begin opening up retail stores in India in the future and already has retail locations in the works. A new store in Mumbai is in development and is set to open next year. Meanwhile, Bloomberg says that Apple has already scouted a location for its second India store, located in Bangalore near Minsk Square.

Even prior to the rule change, Apple was working with the Indian government to get permission to open up stores in India. Over the course of the last few years, Apple started manufacturing some lower-cost ‌iPhone‌ models in India to meet local investment requirements, and has recently started assembling the ‌iPhone‌ SE and the ‌iPhone‌ 11 in the country through manufacturing partners Wistron and Foxconn, respectively.

Apple devices have had low penetration among India's 1.3 billion population due to high costs from import tariffs, making them limited to buyers the high-end premium market. The rule changes will make Apple devices more affordable to Indian consumers and should therefore see Apple grow its footprint in the country.

Tag: India

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

EvilEvil Avatar
66 months ago
It's crazy it took them this long.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mobi-logic Avatar
66 months ago
So Finally I could get the custom configuration and not the base configuration for all Mac line of products. Its frustrating when you pay $2700 for MBP and ready to pay extra $400 for RAM or storage but Apple didnt gave that option till now. Looking forward for online store opening.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vseera Avatar
66 months ago
Yup, looking forward to custom configurations too! Although till they get their pricing strategy sorted out, it'll still be cheaper to fly to Hong Kong etc. and have a short holiday and buy stuff.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ramchi Avatar
66 months ago

hope aapl india market will grow
hope iphone mfg in india does well
If the rumours I am hearing about cost of iPhone 12 in India is true (cheaper than iPhone 11 which was cheaper than iPhone XR) which seems to be cheaper than the OnePlus 8 Pro 12 GB/256 GB variant then Apple can really pull enormous trick in the market. But they need to remember that already the cheapest SE models are at the tip of the price barrier for the most common man in the country. Right now they are probably less than 1% in the domestic market.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
techish Avatar
66 months ago
Now when is India getting iBooks store, Apple Pay, Apple Care+, Apple Card & good quality maps? Hope refurbished store & educational discounts too will be offered over online store…
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ramchi Avatar
66 months ago
Welcome move hope it helps reducing prices as well deservingly
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)