Apple Opens Second Flagship Store In India, First In Delhi

Popular iPhone maker Apple has opened the company's second flagship retail store in India, in Delhi. Apple Inc chief executive Tim Cook inaugurated the store 'Apple Saket' on Thursday morning.

The store located at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket area is the first Apple store to be opened in the national capital. However, the Delhi store is half the size of the one opened in Jio World Drive at Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The company has hired more than 70 retail executives at the Delhi store, who have been sourced from 18 states of India and can speak more than 15 languages.

This is Cook's first trip to India in last seven years. During his visit, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the iPhone manufacturer looking to invest more in India, the world's second-largest smartphone market.

According to government sources, Apple is likely to double the employment base at its contract manufacturers in India to around 2 lakh soon.

Earlier in 2016, Cook had visited India when the tech giant was just beginning to scale up operations in the country. The company is eyeing India as huge potential market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, making it a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices. It is looking to replicate what China did to Apple's business in the last 15 years.

Cook also met Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and his Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar during his visit.

As per the sources, Cook has sought government support to widen its components supplier base in India. The Apple CEO is learnt to have also discussed manufacturing facilities and app design and development accelerator in Bengaluru with both the ministers.