Apple Bringing Online Store to India on September 23

Apple today announced that it plans to open its online store in India on Wednesday, September 23, providing customers located in India with a way to purchase iPhones, Macs, iPads, and more directly from Apple.

applestoreindia

"We're proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities," said Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of Retail + People. "We know our users are relying on technology to stay connected, engage in learning, and tap into their creativity, and by bringing the Apple Store online to India, we are offering our customers the very best ofApple at this important time."

Apple's online store will also feature Apple Specialists able to help with ordering products and setting up new devices, with customers able to get help in English and Hindi.

With the store, Apple will introduce financing options and a trade-in program, along with EDU pricing for students. Starting in October, Apple will also host free online Today at Apple sessions led by local Creative Pros with a focus on photography and music.

Apple has long had a presence in India, which is an important market for the Cupertino company, but device sales have been done through third-party resellers because of restrictions imposed on foreign companies that require 30 percent of production to be done locally.

India in August 2019 relaxed the rules, providing a way for Apple to operate an online store in the country. Apple also intends to open up retail stores in the future, and there are already retail locations in the works.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...

Top Rated Comments

btrach144 Avatar
68 months ago
It blows my mind that Apple hasn’t had an online store in the second most populous country in the world.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ajgash Avatar
68 months ago
I love the intentional design choices Apple makes. They could have just said, "Apple Store coming to India." Instead, we have a really cool illustration that's full of "hidden" apple products and icons. Really neat!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ian87w Avatar
68 months ago

It blows my mind that Apple hasn’t had an online store in the second most populous country in the world.

Apple has long had a presence in India, which is an important market for the Cupertino company, but device sales have been done through third-party resellers because of restrictions imposed on foreign companies that require 30 percent of production to be done locally.
Good job Apple.
Next stop, the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0924487 Avatar
68 months ago

Its crazy that it hasnt, also India its about to become the most populous within the next decade... 2.5x China’s birth rate
That shows how underdeveloped India is.

For Apple's online store to work, you need good infrastructures across the entire country, such as broadband internet, fast, reliable and cost-effective domestic shipping that covers the entire country. You will also need good channels for online fraud prevention, which is a big problem in India not just domestically. Scammers from India are literally scamming the world.

For the online store to be successful, you need a ready market. The mass population should be at least pretty much all literate, and digitally literate, which India doesn't have. There should be a significant middle and upper class measured in the American purchasing power standard, not PPP because Apple products have globally standard pricing, at least before tax. Apple products will not be cheaper in India than in the US in FX dollars, so the nominal dollar, in this case, equals PPP-adjusted dollar.

Most of the people that meet the above criteria are located in the rich part of India, aka., the affluent half of the big cities, which already have physical retail channels.

For physical Apple Stores to work in India, currently India has none, there must be urban clusters in India that will buy the upper-end of the premium device lineups, such as Mac Pro, iPad Pro, Thunderbolt display (with the stand), AirPods Pro, etc. Products like the entry-level basic iPad, iPhone SE, MacBook Air without retina display, etc. will not generate enough profit for Apple to operate physical Apple Stores, which are expensive to keep.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0924487 Avatar
68 months ago

is there any way to determine which countries have an online store and which do not?
Checking the official Apple website one by one in each locale of interest, or look here for a map of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Store

Basically, most small third world countries don't have it. Russa doesn't have it. India doesn't have it. China has hundreds of them.



[TABLE]
[TR]
[TH]Country / Region[/TH]
[TH]Number of stores[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]United States[/TD]
[TD]271[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]China[/TD]
[TD]42[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]United Kingdom[/TD]
[TD]38[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Canada[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Australia[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]France[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Italy[/TD]
[TD]17[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Germany[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Spain[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Japan[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hong Kong[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Netherlands[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sweden[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]United Arab Emirates[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Singapore[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brazil[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turkey[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Macau[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mexico[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Taiwan[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Thailand[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Belgium[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]South Korea[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Austria[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iMi Avatar
68 months ago
This is a big deal. India is fast developing but honestly it has a long way to go. In the vast rural area of India only about 60% have electricity. They would have been much further ahead, but they made the admirable, and in my opinion, inspiring decision to forgo the usual route of industrial revolution based on carbon fuels and instead invest heavily in renewables. Industrial growth is off the charts, consumer spending is rising at record pace. All good signs.

India is where we're looking to invest as well. I agree that this is big news.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)