Apple finally offers complete iPod, Mac lineups to India

[AppleInsider]

Apple Inc. has struck a deal that will for the first time put every one of its computers and portable media players on the shelves of Indian stores, closing a years-long gap in the company's international business.

PC business Wipro Infotech confirmed on Wednesday that it has negotiated with Apple to bring all of the latter's internationally available products to the Asian country, including rarer items such as the Xserve and Xserve RAID.

A specialized team is simultaneously being formed to help market Apple's devices to small, medium, and enterprise businesses, Wipro said. At least some support for the devices would also be handled by the large IT company.

The deal between the two firms brings India's range up to par with most other countries for the first time in several years. The Indian distributor had previously agreed to sever its links with Apple during the Mac maker's rapid decline in 1997, when Wipro's profits from Apple products were less and less beneficial to its bottom line.

Apple's resurgence in recent years has seen a similar return to health for its Indian business. In March of last year, the company announced that it would begin selling some key iPod and Mac models through local resellers in the country, but until now had refrained from opening up its entire catalog to the country's booming economy.

No direct Apple sales are planned for the country, however. The company's official online store for the nation remains browse-only and lists products as well as pricing, but won't let customers order from the website.

Wipro itself says it welcomes the return to its role as a preferred partner.

"We are extremely pleased to partner with Apple, which is well known for its innovative products and solutions," says Wipro PC division VP Ashutosh Vaidya. "Coupled with Wipro’s proven marketing and support infrastructure, this will offer the customers significantly higher value for their investments."

[amac4me]

With the world's second largest population, India is an ideal location to establish a footprint in India.

[McDave]

And they'll be able to understand the tech support guys! Or maybe they can redirect them to Scotland

McD

[Cubert]

This is great news! India has almost 4 times the population of the U.S. and has a rapidly growing middle class.

[ajunr]

finally

[maccube]

The complete range of Apple products have always been available in India. They have numerous resellers here.

[cree8er]

The last time Wipro handled the mac in India - they messed up the market completely. Service went downhill & they get all these peecee users to handle the customers, who have no clue of the mac culture - sad news for Mac users

[bjornte]

This is mostly a message to AppleInsider staff: It seems you have linked to a site with extremely aggressive spam pop-ups. When I wanted to read the article from 1997, the main browser window closed and several others opened, advertising for antivirus or similar. Highly annoying. In general, there are some pop-up ads when browsing your site. This deducts from the overall quality of your service.

[markiv]

Originally Posted by Cubert

This is great news! India has almost 4 times the population of the U.S. and has a rapidly growing middle class.

This is a never ending Quantity vs Quality debate. Though the middle class population in India is on the rise, the income is pretty low (when compared to US and Europe), plus the macs cost a lot more in India compared to EU or the US. You could compare the prices Apple Store India and Apple Store USA. Link1 and Link2

Originally Posted by maccube

The complete range of Apple products have always been available in India. They have numerous resellers here.

There are many products in the mac line up that aren't available in India, e.g. the 8-Core Macpro. Even the ability to upgrade the video card in the iMacs both 20 and 24 inch and the MacBook Pro. Only a few graphics cards are offered as an upgrade option for Mac Pros. The new MacBook and MacBook Pro haven't even been introduced in India till now. In short the Apple lineup in India does suck a bit, Apple should open there own store here instead of partnering with small resellers and spoiling their image. I went to an Apple Reseller Store in India it was like the smallest shop ever, they had like one Mac Pro, two Macbooks and on MacBook Pro, a few iPod thats all and this would not leave a good impression about Apple on an average Indian consumer.

[markiv]

Originally Posted by cree8er

The last time Wipro handled the mac in India - they messed up the market completely. Service went downhill & they get all these peecee users to handle the customers, who have no clue of the mac culture - sad news for Mac users

Also it would not be wise for Apple to team up with Wipro, Wipro is not only a computer software company but is also a major PC manufacturer in India. This would not be a wise decision, also I am using Wipro at my office and Wipro PC's suck big time.

[solipsism]

Sweet! I'm spending the rest of the year in India so perhaps I won't be out of luck if i need an Apple part on the quick.

[guest]

Most of Apples lineup except the servers are available in India. Usually new products come to India a few weeks after they have been released in the US but thats probably due to logistical and taxation issues.. There are many Apple dealers in India.. especially the iPod.. it seems every electronics showroom has its stock off iPods..

[anantksundaram]

I think that this is potentially a HUGE growth opportunity for Apple -- not today or next year, but 3 to 7 years from now. The seeds have to be planted today. I think that the long-term implications for Apple's stock price from this move are excellent.

The earlier relationship between WIPRO and Apple means nothing: Apple was struggling badly then, and WIPRO was still a PC/vegetable oil manufacturer! Today, WIPRO is a massively successful US-listed Indian company with a mkt cap of close to $25 billion.

Btw, I think this not so much a server/laptop/desktop play for Apple as much as it is iPhone/iPod/iMac. There is great potential esp. for iPhones and iPods. The iTunes store (both music and video) could become big as well, one day, what with the ubiquity of Bollywood, and a rapidly-growing TV culture (Disney, for instance, is also making significant moves into India).

[McDave]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

what with the ubiquity of Bollywood, and a rapidly-growing TV culture (Disney, for instance, is also making significant moves into India).

I couldn't agree more. Would Bollywood embrace AppleTV more quickly than Hollywood? It would be great for a full HiDef service to debut outside the US for once (as they seem to have stalled). It could be the start of localised iTS video media breaking away from the film studio/network hold and addressing local production directly.

Hitting affluent Indians is second only to hitting affluent Chinese - is Apple's operation in Hong Kong restricted or something? I don't hear much about it.

McD

[nharihar]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple Inc. has struck a deal that will for the first time put every one of its computers and portable media players on the shelves of Indian stores, closing a years-long gap in the company's international business.

PC business Wipro Infotech confirmed on Wednesday that it has negotiated with Apple to bring all of the latter's internationally available products to the Asian country, including rarer items such as the Xserve and Xserve RAID.

A specialized team is simultaneously being formed to help market Apple's devices to small, medium, and enterprise businesses, Wipro said. At least some support for the devices would also be handled by the large IT company.

The deal between the two firms brings India's range up to par with most other countries for the first time in several years. The Indian distributor had previously agreed to sever its links with Apple during the Mac maker's rapid decline in 1997, when Wipro's profits from Apple products were less and less beneficial to its bottom line.

Apple's resurgence in recent years has seen a similar return to health for its Indian business. In March of last year, the company announced that it would begin selling some key iPod and Mac models through local resellers in the country, but until now had refrained from opening up its entire catalog to the country's booming economy.

No direct Apple sales are planned for the country, however. The company's official online store for the nation remains browse-only and lists products as well as pricing, but won't let customers order from the website.

Wipro itself says it welcomes the return to its role as a preferred partner.

"We are extremely pleased to partner with Apple, which is well known for its innovative products and solutions," says Wipro PC division VP Ashutosh Vaidya. "Coupled with Wipro’s proven marketing and support infrastructure, this will offer the customers significantly higher value for their investments."

Apple adoption in India is growing, but more in the Media & Entertainment industry and not so much in the home PC market. This is largely due to the pricing, support and parts availability. The MacBook, Minis, iMacs, iPods and Mac Pros sold in India are about 10% - 50% more than those sold in the U.S. This is largely due to the import duties on these products. Would love to see the prices come down a bit.