From iPhone 3G to first retail store: Apple's 15-year journey in India
It took Apple Inc 15 years from when it first started selling its iPhone in India to having a company-run retail store in now the world's second-biggest smartphone market, one where it has faced several business challenges.
As Apple opens its first stores, here is a timeline of its journey in India, where the U.S. firm's contract manufacturers are increasingly making iPhones.
August 2008: iPhone 3G made its debut in India minus the mass hysteria and winding queues that had marked its launch in the U.S., Europe and parts of Asia.
January 2016: Apple files an application with India's government to set up its own stores in India.
May 2016: Apple chief Tim Cook met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi for the first time as the company looks at plotting an expansion strategy.
June 2016: India relaxes its investment rules for foreign retailers, clearing way for giants such as Apple and IKEA to set up stores in the country.
May 2017: Apple, working with contract manufacturer Wistron, started local assembly of iPhones for the first time in India at Bengaluru with its iPhone SE model.
September 2020: Apple Inc launched its first online store in India, coinciding with the country's holiday season.
October 2020: India approved incentives under a federal plan to boost domestic smartphone production to 16 companies, including top Apple suppliers.
December 2020: Contract workers at the Bengaluru factory of Apple supplier Wistron ransacked the facility after a protest against unpaid wages. The factory was put on probation by Apple before resuming production two months later.
December 2021: Protests erupted at the Tamil Nadu plant of Foxconn after more than 250 women workers who live in one of the company dormitories were treated for
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