According to The Economic Times, Apple has paid its 500-odd exclusive stores in India to cover two months of their rent and salaries for store staff, apart from providing additional credit period of 60 days to help them tide over business disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The article says Apple has already transferred the “financial support”, as it refers in the email sent to retailers, amount to all its Apple Premium Reseller partners who run the large-format stores and Apple Retail outlets which are smaller exclusive outlets. The Economic Times says the tech giant has asked partners in the email to “explore and improve alternative channels to distribute Apple products, including online.” Apple has offered multi-brand retail stores an additional payment period of 30 days.
The company doesn’t have any retail stores of its own in India. However, CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday that the company plans to open a brick-and-mortar store in the country in 2021. The problem? Indian regulations require foreign retailers to source at least 30% of their raw materials locally — a rule that Apple has tried to seek an exemption from.
