Apple sees India as its next big market, and has been planning a massive expansion plan in the country. The next goal is to get permission to sell refurbished iPhones in the Indian market; a move that was prevented when the company applied last year. That hasn’t prevented Apple from trying again, although it is now facing opposition from Indian smartphone manufacturers.
The Indian smartphone industry warns that allowing second hand iPhones into the country would result in India becoming a dumping ground for unwanted devices. It also claims that the move would jeopardise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make In India programme.
None of this will deter Cupertino from expanding its reach in the second most populous country in Asia. Its iPhone sales increased by 76-percent in the last quarter of 2015 alone, indicating that there is still massive untapped potential for new customers.
Foreign companies looking to enter the Indian market often set up local manufacturing facilities to get around the Made in India restriction. However, it is unlikely that Apple will want to build another factory; considering that it doesn’t actually make most of its own phones.
That being said, Apple already has plans to open a new technology centre in Hyderabad. This may not help it meet the local manufacturing restriction to lower prices, but it is an early step into wooing the Indian market.
[Source: Bloomberg]
