Apple Once Again Delays First Apple Store in India Until Next Year

Apple has once again delayed the opening of its first physical retail store in India, The Economic Times reports.

apple india
The store was originally planned to open in 2021, but the global health crisis and economic uncertainty forced Apple to delay the opening. Now, Apple has decided to delay the launch until early 2023, with today's report saying the company is aiming for a launch between the January and March timeframe. The store in Mumbai is set to be 22,000 square feet and will be a "landmark" store known for its iconic design.

Apple is also planning a second, smaller store in New Delhi that will measure 10,000-12,000 square feet. Beyond those two stores, Apple is also looking at other possible locations in malls and high-end shopping districts across India with the intent of making retail a large part of its presence in the country.

In 2020 Apple opened its online store in India, offering Indian customers a direct way to purchase products directly from Apple without having to go through an authorized premium reseller. Apple executives have repeatedly stressed the importance of the Indian market. Most notably, Apple began production of the iPhone 13 in the country earlier this year.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
Apple Logo Spotlight

Report: Apple to Launch These New Products in 2026

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:34 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.1 With Liquid Glass Toggle, Slide to Stop Alarm, New Apple Intelligence Languages and More

Monday November 3, 2025 1:11 pm PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.1, the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.1 comes over a month after iOS 26 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.1 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
Early Black Friday Deals 2

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Sunday November 2, 2025 10:04 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...

Top Rated Comments

Justin Cymbal Avatar
43 months ago
Very exciting to see Apple opening up their first store in India next year

Apple now has over 500 stores worldwide and I’m glad that they continue to expand and build amazing stores in new countries all over the world
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nkapple Avatar
43 months ago

The average Indian will have to work 724 hours—around 90 days—to afford the iPhone 13, compared to 50 hours for the average US worker. Let’s see how it goes.
The world economy does not work that way. I mean based in average. If the market is huge enough , even a top 5 percent means huge amount of revenue pool. Why should apple miss the fastest or second fastest large economy in the world.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AbhiAchShan Avatar
43 months ago
Almost waiting since 2 Years for their Store, I was quite happy when they opened their Online Store in India, now only thing remaining is offline store, which is repeatedly being delayed, I almost planned to visit this Aug, according to some rumours, but :(. Still Excited to look the first Apple Store in India
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kshitijshah Avatar
43 months ago
Physical store launch is critical to bringing up service standards in India.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apparatchik Avatar
43 months ago
I'm sure both current and mid term growth in India allows for say the top 20-30% of the population to afford Apple products, specially those working in tech and living in big cities. That 20-30% would make for a larger market than the whole of the US. Sure, there might be 70-80% of consumers left out ATM but the numbers are just on a different scale, especially if you count all the tiny markets in Europe where Apple has presence since forever.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kshitijshah Avatar
43 months ago

India has a law that requires manufacturing in country for certain products. Apple was forced to negotiate and open a manufacturing center to be able to sell them in country. I think that has proven to be far more difficult than they thought it should be. I'm sure there are people in Apple management working on an ulcer over dealing with India.
I am sure executives at Apple are paid well enough o navigate these issues. Every major brand has a thriving business in India. Apple doesn't have to navigate any special rules.


I'm concerned that the leader of India is going to push Pakistan too far and once the nukes start flying, it's over.
How is this relevant to the discussion?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)