Fans have their date with Tim Cook as Apple opens first India store

Long queues, loud music, the trademark claps and, of course, Tim Cook opening the door — Apple’s first store in India had it all.

The crowd cheered, the Apple professionals, in green uniform, clapped and sang as the CEO welcomed the first visitors into the store at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai.

On Wednesday, Cook is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Delhi.

After the launch in Mumbai, Cook reached Hyderabad. 

There he met chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and other top players like Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi, Chirag Shetty, and P Kashyap. “We served, smashed, and talked about how Apple Watch helps them train,” he tweeted.

Tuesday, however, belonged to Apple BKC, which saw a high-decibel opening.

Urzin Pardiwalla, a Mumbai resident who celebrated his 21st birthday on April 17, couldn’t stop smiling. “Best birthday ever,” he gushed as he took a selfie with Cook. “My first product even as a child was an Apple iPhone. I am so happy… the store was technically launched on my birthday (it was opened to the media and celebrities on April 17), and today I got to meet Tim Cook!” Pardiwalla beamed.

The crowd had started gathering as early as 6 am – five hours before the doors of the 20,000 sq ft store were thrown open to the public. People came from as far as Nashik, Pune, Bengaluru, and cities in Gujarat.

Varoon Nawale, a 19-year-old student, travelled from Pune for the launch and to get Cook’s signature on the sticker that the company was giving away. Nawale called it his best moment ever. “I bunked my lectures today to be here,” said the student of Tron Animation Institute who is a MacBook user.

Smital, a 21-year-old from Nashik who gave only her first name, reached the city a day ahead of the launch and managed to get a place in the queue at 9.30 am. “I wanted to meet Tim Cook and also experience the store’s opening,” she said.

Some, like Thane resident Naved Ansari, reached the Apple BKC store at 6 am so that they’d be among the first to enter. “The best part of having an Apple store in our city is that we will now get to see all the products under one roof. Even Apple-designated resellers do not have all the products,” he said.

Many of those who came for the store’s opening had been hoping that the company would have something on discount on Day One. But Apple, globally, does not give discounts. Anushka Karami, an Apple user, said iPhones cost much more in India than they do in the West. “I bought my iPhone from the US, and it was much cheaper. That said, a store here would mean good technical support,” she said.

Thane resident Rishab (he gave only his first name) said having an Apple store would allow the brand to connect with users. “We Indians need to touch and feel a product, especially if it’s premium. It will be interesting to see how Apple now connects with Indian users,” he said. The store also allows customers to get their names etched on the Apple products they buy.

The store’s focus on privacy did not go unnoticed, with the Apple professionals taking the consent for using the pictures of the visitors who themselves clicked.  

Apple as a brand has been in India for 25 years. Its first fully-owned store can be seen as the Cupertino-based company’s silver jubilee gift to itself. On April 20, it will open its second store at Saket in New Delhi.

At the store’s preview on Monday, Apple hosted Mumbai’s Bollywood to some tech and music performance by Mahesh Raghvan and Nandini Shankar. Among the celebrities present were music composers A R Rahman, Salim Merchant, and singer Armaan Malik. Also present were actors Neha Dhupia, Sonali Bendre, Rajkummar Rao, director-producer Boney Kapoor, among others.