Apple CEO Tim Cook Opens First Store In India

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has inaugurated the tech major’s first retail store in India, which is being considered as its new manufacturing base as well as new growth market. The first store, called Apple BKC, is located in the country’s financial capital Mumbai.

On Thursday, the company will open its second store in India, Apple Saket, in the capital of Delhi.

The launch comes as Apple is aiming to boost sales, manufacturing and exports of Apple products including iPhones in India.

Apple BKC is located inside the Jio World Drive mall at Bandra Kurla Complex or BKC in Mumbai.

According to the company, Apple BKC is one of the most energy-efficient Apple Store locations in the world, operationally carbon neutral, running on 100 percent renewable energy.

Prior to the inauguration, Cook tweeted a photo of himself and Apple BKC staff.

Apple BKC will offer a special Today at Apple series, “Mumbai Rising,” running from the store’s opening day through the summer. These free sessions featuring Apple products and services are expected to bring visitors, local artists, and creatives together.

The iPhone maker, which views India as a key market, has been present in the country for more than 25 years. Cook in an earlier statement said, “India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history.”

Apple, which assembles most of its iPhones in China, last year announced plans to shift some production of its flagship smartphone iPhone 14 from China to India amid continuing tensions between the US and China, along with the then prevailed COVID-19 issues.

Foxconn, Apple’s key iPhone assembler, already manufactures iPhones at its Sriperumbudur factory on the outskirts of Chennai, India.

In March, Bloomberg reported that Foxconn plans to invest $700 million to set up a new iPhone plant in India’s Karnataka state, which would create 100,000 jobs. Foxconn will build a new 300-acre facility in Bengaluru as part of its ongoing effort to pivot away from China.

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