Apple finally offers complete iPod, Mac lineups to India
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."
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."
Comments
McD
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
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.
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.
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).
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
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.