India’s First Apple Store Draws Long Queues on Opening Day

People from different parts of India came outside the store to catch a glimpse of Apple CEO Tim Cook, who inaugurated the new Apple Store

Hundreds of Apple fans gathered outside India’s first Apple Store, trying their best to become the first few lucky people to enter the store. Fans from all over India cheered as Apple CEO Tim Cook inaugurated the 28,000-sq-foot Apple Flagship Store located at the Jio World Drive Mall in Mumbai.

Forming long queues early in the day, fans waited long hours to get inside the store once it finally opens. Traveling over cities just to witness the store opening, the Indian Apple fans were clearly excited about an Apple Store opening in their country.

“The vibe here is just different, it’s not like buying from some normal store. There’s just no comparison. It’s so exciting,” said Aan Shah, a 23-year old who traveled to Mumbai from Hyderabad, over 550 kilometers, just to witness the opening ceremony.

Rumors about the opening of Indian Apple stores were going around for quite a while. These rumors started to get serious when Apple was reported to be in conversation with Infiniti Retail, a holding company for Tata and even Reliance Industries, the company that owns the location for the Mumbai Apple Store.

Judging by the long lines and public enthusiasm, there is no denying that Apple has a loyal customer base in India, however, the company accounts for only about 3% of the Indian mobile phone market.

With store openings such as this one, Apple aims to push its market share in India. The company even conducted a private event where bloggers, tech analysts and bollywood celebrities were invited.

Apart from this new store in Mumbai, Apple will soon launch another smaller Apple store in Delhi on Thursday.

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