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Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the US administration helped the tech giant Apple to get a strong foothold in India.
During an interview with FoxBusiness , Cook said that he sees India as a huge opportunity for Apple Inc. and, Trump administration has helped the company gain further ground in the second-largest smartphone market in the world.
When US president Trump came to India for his maiden visit last week, Cook announced that Apple is going to open its first retail store in the country by 2021. While the exclusive online store will be launched this year. Apple's exclusive store is expected to start functioning in the third quarter of 2020.
Growth potential
Commenting on the growth of the company in India, the CEO said: "I see India as a huge opportunity for us. For years, we could not enter there unless we entered there with a partner into retail and we did not want to do that. We wanted to maintain control of our brand and so forth".
He told FoxBusiness that the (Trump) administration coordinated well with the Indian government. He added: “We are very positive about entering there online this year and in retail next year.”
According to a media report, Apple is planning to secure a location on lease for its upcoming Mumbai outlet. Currently, the tech giant has third-party offline reseller outlets to sell its devices in India and e-platforms including Flipkart and Amazon.in.
Cook also mentioned that he doesn’t want third-party resellers to be involved any further. He said that the company likes to do things their way. So, they cannot be a “very good partner in retail.”
Last year, Cook also welcomed Centre’s decision of easing down the 30 per cent local sourcing norm in single-brand retail (SBRT). After Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal announced some flexibility in mandatory local sourcing norms stating, “India has opened up opportunities for single-brand retail and is easing some detrimental clauses of the policy.”
Welcoming the move, Apple Inc. said: "We appreciate the support and hard work by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team to make this possible and we look forward to one day welcoming customers to India's first Apple retail store."
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