Apple Set to Launch First Online Store In India on Sept. 23

iPhone maker, Apple Inc, has fixed September 23 for the launch of its first online store in India as the company plants a stronger footing of its brand in the country that has more than 1 billion wireless subscribers, with a third of them relying basic handsets.

Before now, Apple products were only sold in the country through third-party vendors and eCommerce platforms such as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, but that is just on the retail end.

On the production end, Apple has been manufacturing some of its phones in India, including the iPhone 11. It owns two plants in southern Indian states – Foxconn and Wistron.

With the population of India put at 1,382,900,689, according to Worldometer, and with its cheap labour system, smartphone makers have a huge growth prospects.

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Reuters reports that the new Apple’s online store will offer assistance to customers in English and Hindi, and it will allow users to engrave their iPads, Apple Pencil and Airpods in English and in other Indian languages, including Bengali and Gujarati.

On Wednesday this week, Apple announced the roll out of Apple One, a new subscription-based service from the tech giant that combines some of Apple’s biggest products into one package. Apple One will house the iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus and Apple’s newest service, Apple Fitness Plus that offers daily workouts. The company also introduced a new Apple Watch Series 6 that monitors blood oxygen and will cost US$399, and a lower-cost Apple Watch SE for US$279.

As for the Apple One bundle; users will pay US$15 per month for an individual plan or US$20 per month for a family plan and include television, music and games. Apple also added a bundle that will cost US$30 per month that adds news, the fitness service and more storage.