Apple poised to open its first online store in India next month

India's 1.3 billion people represent a large, under-served smartphone market that is becoming an increasingly important focus for Apple even as the pandemic rages this year

Apple Inc is poised to open an online store for the first time in the fast-growing smartphone market of India next month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, taking advantage of a relaxation of once-strict prohibitions against foreign direct retail.

The online store will be ready for operations just ahead of the festive Dussehra-Diwali spending season, according to the person, who asked not to be named discussing confidential plans. The iPhone maker, which lobbied New Delhi for years to get around regulations that force companies such as Apple to source 30% of components locally, had originally planned