India has indicated it will bypass the usual regulations for foreign companies and grant easy approval for Apple to establish retail outlets there.
This comes as CEO Tim Cook tries to tap new global markets, especially India, a country of 1.3 billion people where it has seen small gains in iPhone sales.
BloombergBusiness, quoting an unidentified source, said the Indian government has asked Apple to resubmit its request and indicated it will exempt Apple from rules forcing foreign business to procure 30 percent of a product’s inputs in that country. Most of Apple’s devices are made in China.
Apple owns about a 2 percent share in the smartphone market in India, where it must use re-sellers for its products. Samsung is the dominant seller there.
Apple saw a muted reception in India to the iPhone 6s last year because of the steep price tag, analysts said. To spur growth in iPhone sales in India in the fourth quarter of last year, Apple used a series of discounts on older phones, like the 5s, as well buybacks and payment plans.
Bloomberg’s source said India will bypass regulations because Apple is a “provider of cutting-edge technology.”
Source: BloombergBusiness and AppleInsider
