Before the opening of the first Apple Stores In Indiait is reported that Apple bans 22 competing brands from an “exclusive zone” around the store. These brands include Amazon, Facebook, GoogleAnd Twitter.
THE iPhone The manufacturer used a clause in the mall’s lease agreement to prohibit these brands from not only opening stores in the area, but even buying advertising space there…
First Apple Stores in India
It has been a long and hard job for Apple to be able to open its own retail stores in India.
In a bid to boost the country’s manufacturing sector, the Indian government has banned anyone from opening single-brand stores unless a high percentage of the products sold there are made in India.
Apple has been involved in difficult negotiations with the government for many years over this issue, but it was only after it dramatically increased iPhone assembly in India that it finally got the necessary permits.
The first store Apple BKC in Mumbai, set to open April 18. This will be almost immediately followed by Apple Saket in Delhi. Plans for the Mumbai store were leaked some time ago, but the company managed to keep the lid on the Delhi one.
Apple bans 22 “competing brands”
india Economic period Exclusion zone reports for Mumbai store.
According to the rental agreement viewed by data analytics firm CRE Matrix, the company specified 22 brands, including Amazon, Facebook, Google, LG, Microsoft, Sony and Twitter, which should be kept out of its ” exclusive area”. This will include stores, hoardings and advertisements […]
“The Licensor will not license, sublicense, lease, sublease or any other arrangement, or assign any of the marks listed as ‘Competitive Marks’ to occupy space for the placement of retail stores for retailing, advertising, selling, offering, exhibiting and marketing their goods and services in the shopping center area represented on the exclusive area”, in accordance with the agreement.
Many brands make Windows laptops, which compete with Apple’s MacBooks. The company apparently doesn’t want any nearby competition for HomePod or Beats audio products either, because Bose and Devialet (from $2,000 Bluetooth speaker fame) are also on the list.
In an effort to limit competition for HomeKit products, Nest is also excluded. Garmin is there as a smartwatch competitor, especially for the Apple Watch Ultra.
Somewhat oddly, one of the brands banned by the deal is Apple’s main iPhone assembler, Foxconn. Twitter is also odd, although here Apple may simply view the company’s unpredictable behavior as risky from a PR perspective.
Interestingly, the report names 21 of the 22 brands, leaving the last a mystery. I’d bet a hefty sum of money though that the missing one is Samsung.
- Amazon
- LG
- Microsoft
- sony
- Bose
- Dell
- Devialet
- foxcon
- Garmin
- Hitachi
- resume
- HTC
- IBM
- Intel
- Lenovo
- Nest
- panasonic
- Toshiba
The report says it’s not unusual for ‘flagship stores’ – big brands likely to bring customers into a mall – to insist on excluding direct competitors, but a retail consultant says that ‘ such a long list in several sectors is not at all common.
The time and effort it took to finally be allowed to open its first retail stores in the country may be a factor in Apple’s position. Having finally achieved his goal, he probably wants to maximize the return on his investment.
The report says it’s likely that Apple negotiated the same or similar clause for the Delhi store.
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