Apple Opens in Stores in India

Apple will open its first retail store in India next year. Wait, what? Surely the world's most valuable company has been trading for years in India, which is one of the most populous nations on Earth. Apparently not. For a decade, Apple has solely relied on third-party sellers, stores and marketplaces to sell its products in India.

Responding to a question from a shareholder at Apple's annual meeting in Cupertino, CEO Tim Cook said that they have been working on this for years but needed special approval because the government wanted it to work with a partner. Apple refused. His comment: "We wouldn't be a very good partner in retail. We like to do things our way. I don't want somebody else to run the brand for us."



Oddly enough, Apple actually assembles iPhones in India, because that country provides several incentives to companies that assemble electronic items locally. For the last two years, Apple contractors Foxconn and Wistron have been producing a range of iPhone models in India, shipping close to 925 000 units in the quarter that ended in December.

Well done to Apple for sticking to its guns. I support this kind of thing, because I'd like to live in a world where individual choice, free markets and private companies are more important than meddling politicians from nation states.