Apple to soon launch an online store in India; reports suggest it could be as soon as next month

In September 2019, Apple reportedly conveyed its plans to the Indian government to open  **up to three brick-and-mortar outlets and an online store in India** . Reports last year suggested that **Apple's first offline store in India** will be open by September 2020, however, with COVID-19 outbreak altering most timelines, this may also be delayed. As for the online store, Apple did announce its plans to launch a company-owned online store in India, however, there is no confirmation on when this will happen. Now, a report by Bloomberg claims that the online store may launch in India as soon as next month. Reportedly, Apple aims to launch the online store ahead of the Diwali-Dussehra festive season. [caption id=“attachment_7977161” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Representational image: Pixabay[/caption] Notably though, in January this year, at the revenue call meeting, Apple CEO Tim Cook had already confirmed that the company will launch its online store in India by the end of 2020. tech2 reached out to Apple to confirm the alleged September timeline, however, the company refused to authenticate that. Apple has also not yet made any official announcement regarding this. Apple announced its plans for opening offline and online stores in India last year after the  **government relaxed FDI norms** , offering players more flexibility on local sourcing norms. It also did away a provision that required companies to mandatorily set up a brick-and-mortar store before getting into online retail trading. Earlier this month, Apple became the first US company to boast a **market value of $2 trillion** . Apple’s first offline store in India will be **located at Mumbai’s Maker Maxity mall** in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). The company will reportedly open its second offline store in Bangalore.