Apple is rumored to be at least one step closer to starting online sales of its products within India.
Bloomberg is reporting this week that Apple is on the cups of starting online sales for its products “within months”. The report is based on information provided by “a person familiar with the matter”, and states that new rules within India will make it possible for Apple to start selling its products online in the near future.
Apple Inc. is poised to start online sales of its devices in India within months, a person familiar with the matter said, benefiting from new rules making the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market more attractive to foreign brands.
On Wednesday, India eased rules that forced companies such as Apple to source 30% of their production locally — a requirement the iPhone maker has been lobbying against for years — to include exports as part of the requirement.
All of this is built upon information that was first made public last month, when India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, confirmed that local sourcing regulations would be “eased” in the future. Up to this point, the country has made it the norm that foreign companies must source at least 30% of production locally if it wants a physical retail presence.
Apple has commonly protested the 30% rule for quite some time now, even as it has already started opening manufacturing facilities within the region. Still, Apple is forced to rely on third-party outlets to sell its products.
Beginning this week, the Indian government has relaxed those rules, and will now include exports as part of the requirement for foreign companies to do business within the country. This basically gives Apple the green light to start online sales, which could help boost the company’s sales in the market.
Apple seeds India as an important market to capture. The company has tried to work with the Indian government for quite some time, but the regulators have stood firm. But with the relaxed rules, Apple could finally start making some real headway.