Tim Cook launches Apple's first India store; customers throng with 1984 Mac, other memorabilia

Mumbai: Apple's chief executive Tim Cook on Tuesday launched the iconic consumer technology company's first retail store in India, welcoming customers into the facility inside a mall in suburban BKC.

"The energy, creativity, and passion in Mumbai is incredible! We are so excited to open Apple BKC — our first store in India," Cook, who opened the doors of the store for customers, tweeted.

Hundreds of customers had queued up since last night to be among the first ones to shop or get a feel of the store, which comes 25 years after the company first started selling its products and services in the country through partners.

Dressed in a black-t and grey pants and accompanied by the company's senior vice president for retail Deirdre O'Brien, Cook opened the doors of the store to walk into a crowded foyer to pose for the media, and then started welcoming customers into the store.

Customers took selfies with Cook, sought autographs and exchanged pleasantries before going in. One among them, a designer from Mumbai, carried his nearly four-decade-old Mac, a product which revolutionised personal computing and established Apple as a strong brand with a design focus, with him.

"I brought this just to show Apple's journey from 1984. This is the first Mac SE which was launched in 1984. I have been using Apple products since 1984. Long journey it has been," said the designer from suburban Goregaon, who had joined the queue at 6 am on Tuesday and got more than just selfies and simple pleasantries with the Apple top executives.

"I have been here since last night 8 pm, been camping outside the Apple store for about 15 hours now. I haven't had breakfast, haven't had a shower and you can see us all drenched in sweat. But yeah, we are super excited," said the first customer to go in, who wished to buy an Apple watch.

The second customer to enter the shop took a flight from Rajasthan and joined the queue at 8:30 pm, and credited this to his love for the brand, and also spelt out his aim of being present in New Delhi for the Apple's Saket outlet opening on Thursday.

At present Apple accounts for just 3 per cent share in the highly competitive smartphone market dominated by Chinese and Korean brands, but has lately seen high growth in sales, which establishes India's importance. The company is also keen to expand sourcing of products or components from the country, as it looks to diversify its supply chain beyond China.

The company employs 2,500 people in the country and has indirectly helped create 10 lakh jobs through its app ecosystem.

Excitement around the store had started to build since Apple announced the launch of two stores in India over a week ago. It had opened the Mumbai store – whose theme is inspired by the city's iconic kaali-peeli or black and yellow taxis – for a media preview on the eve of the launch.

Apple's key beliefs in sustainability and inclusivity have driven the design of the store, O'Brien had told reporters on Monday, pointing out that the 100-strong team which will be on the floor will be speaking 18 Indian languages.

Nearly half of the staff at the store, including the leadership, are women, she had said, adding that while a lot of features are at par with hundreds of such stores spread the world over, the company has also included Indian influences in the décor like a wall made up of Rajasthani stone.

A staircase with a 14-metre single piece glass on either side of the stairs is the key highlight of the store spread over 20,000 square feet over two floors in the Jio World Drive mall, which also houses brands like Diesel, Michael Kors, Kate Spade and Swarovski.

The store has products, merchandise and services like repairing the gadgets available for customers, executives said, adding that the customers will be able to check out the products and can also educate themselves on how to use them optimally.

Like in any other store, there are long wooden desks on which the products have been kept, which also include specially built sensors that trigger the opening of switches.

Apple's maiden retail store in the country has been a subject of great speculation since at least 2019, when the Indian policymakers warmed up to the idea of welcoming foreign direct investment in single brand retail. The permissions to allow such stores have come with riders like mandates on local sourcing in the final finished goods.

Earlier, the Cupertino, US-based tech major was reportedly looking at a space in central Mumbai before narrowing down on the current location owned by a company led by richest Indian Mukesh Ambani, which has also been a distributor of Apple's products for some time.

The company has leased out the space in the mall for a 11 year contract, and has been successful in negotiating for barring 22 competing brands, including Amazon, Facebook, Google LG, Microsoft, Sony and others, from occupying space or advertising in close vicinity.

As per reports, the company will be paying Rs 42 lakh per month as a rental for the store, and will also share a part of the revenues with the space owner.