Tim Cook inaugurates Apple's first official store in Delhi; people wait for hours in long queues

Apple CEO Tim Cook inaugurated Delhi's much-awaited first Apple store in Saket on Thursday. After India's first official Apple store opened in Mumbai on Tuesday, Delhi's Apple store is only the second such store in the country.   

As Cook inaugurated store in the Capital at 10 am, people in hordes could be seen outside the stores to get a glimpse of the Apple CEO.

Cook welcomed customers at the inauguration of the iconic iPhone maker's first official store on Thursday, according to sources.

Apple BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai) was opened on April 18 in Mumbai's Jio World Drive. The Delhi store is located on the first floor of SelectCITY Walk Mall in Saket.

There has been significant enthusiasm among the masses, with people waiting in queues for up to 3 hours to enter the Apple store. Many people reached to see Cook much before the opening ceremony. Not only people from the city, but also hundreds of enthusiasts from neighbouring cities like Gurugram, Noida, and Ghaziabad, reached to attend the opening ceremony of the Apple store.

More than 70 employees from 18 states will be working in Delhi's Apple Store. Customers can communicate in more than 15 different languages at this store.

The Delhi store, however, is much smaller than the Mumbai store, but it will still showcase all the Apple products and offer as many services as the Apple BKC. Women make up more than half of the workforce at the Apple store in Delhi.

The entry gate for Apple Saket features a unique design as it takes inspiration from Delhi's many gates. 

"We're thrilled to bring the best of Apple to our customers in Delhi with the opening of our second store in India, Apple Saket," said Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's Senior VP for retail. 

Apple is currently the dominant market player in the premium smartphone segment in India with 65 per cent of the above-Rs 30,000 smartphones sold in the country being iPhones, according to Counterpoint data. However, its overall market share in the country remains small compared to some of its rivals. The opening of these two stores should allow Apple to penetrate further into the Indian market. We should expect the company to open more stores in India over the next few years.

Similar to any other Apple store, Apple Saket runs on 100 percent renewable energy and is carbon neutral.