Apple’s obsession with product design is a prime ingredient in the secret sauce that sets them apart from other tech companies. Be it the store setup, packaging, or the product itself – everything has their signature minimalism. There’s absolutely no deviation from Apple’s design rules, and Tim Cook is in no mood to make an exception for India.
Apple wants to open a direct store in India now. Their previous request was rejected by the Indian government. But Tim Cook’s visit to India in May – the first of its kind in Apple’s history – had its desired effect and the Government appeared to soften a bit.
But this story has seen more twists and turns than an Abbas-Mustan thriller.
Now, Apple has come up with a clear-cut set of requests for the Indian government. They are making two principal demands:
- Apple wants the government to relax its labelling laws.
- Further, Apple is asking for financial incentives to help set up an iPhone production plant in India.
The labelling laws in India are quite outdated and require the manufacturer to print a lot of information on the devices, like specifications, warnings, instructions, etc. Apple clearly doesn’t want to do that as they think it will interfere with their minimalistic design — something that’s arguably their most prominent trademark.
“Apple wants the government to relax labelling rules so that it doesn’t have to print product-related information directly onto devices to avoid cluttering up their minimalist design. That’s one of the concessions Apple has sought after expressing its intention to start manufacturing in India, an official said.” (Source)
As regards to setting up the iconic Apple Stores, Apple has repeatedly asked that they be allowed to set up a wholly owned outlet in the country without having to observe the law on 30% local sourcing of materials. Their argument? Theirs is a “cutting edge technology” and a “state of the art” product, both of which are exempt from the said rule. As can be expected, the proposal was refused by the government.
Apple has now made a fresh request to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The same has been forwarded to the Department of Revenue and Department of Electronics and Information Technology. Will the requests be entertained this time round? We wish we could ask Modiji this question directly.
Apple’s fight to open a retail store in India has been a long and tough one; previous battles have not given them the desired results. Negotiations have started again, but will they have the desired outcome? That’s hard to tell. We want to remain optimistic and believe that we may yet see an Apple Store in India soon. But the matters of bureaucracy are tales of a twisted mind. Who knows what red-tape devilry awaits us!?
Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple has predicted that India is the next big market for iPhones for the years to come. If that is to be taken seriously, then a push will definitely give way to a shove in their latest demands before the Indian government.
If Apple’s prayers are answered by the government of the day, it will call for big celebrations at Cupertino. But if things go sideways and India insists on playing by the rules, this will be Apple’s last fight for a long time. Then, they’ll probably wait for a change in the government before playing their next hand.
