Apple likely to get green signal for first retail store in India: Report

Apple is likely to get clearance to open its first retail store in India, reports Bloomberg, citing people related to the matter.Last month, a report highlighted how Apple was seeking approval for opening its own stores in India. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant had confirmed about receiving Apple’s application. The new report says that the Indian government is planning to push through Apple’s application to set up outlets. According to the report, Apple is resubmitting the request as it wasn’t in the right format."Apple should qualify as a provider of cutting-edge technology, the person said. That would exempt the maker of iPhones and iPads from a rule forcing foreign businesses that retail a single brand in India to procure 30 percent of a product’s inputs locally," the report adds. Needless to say, Apple makes most of its products in China.This doesn’t come as a surprise as Apple is looking to expand markets in a bid to prove the most recent predictions wrong. Unlike others, Apple hasn’t tapped the potential of emerging markets like India and is heavily reliant on third-party resellers in India. Soon after Katy Huberty's predicted six percent drop in profits, a first of sorts, Apple's forecast revealed its first ever projected revenue drop in 13 years. This was driven, in part, by the slowest-ever increase in iPhone shipments as the Chinese market, critical to Apple's growth, showed signs of weakening.