Customer surprises Cook with 1984 Mac at Apple store

Mumbai: Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook on Tuesday launched the iconic consumer technology company's first retail store in India, welcoming customers into the facility inside a mall in suburban BKC.

“The energy, creativity, and passion in Mumbai is incredible! We are so excited to open Apple BKC — our first store in India,” Cook, who opened the doors of the store for customers, tweeted. Hundreds of customers had queued up since last night to be among the first ones to shop or get a feel of the store, which comes 25 years after the company first started selling its products and services in the country through partners.

Dressed in a black-t and grey pants and accompanied by the company's senior vice president for retail Deirdre O'Brien, Cook opened the doors of the store to walk into a crowded foyer to pose for the media, and then started welcoming customers into the store. Customers took selfies with Cook, sought autographs and exchanged pleasantries before going in. One among them, a designer from Mumbai, carried his nearly four-decade-old Mac, a product which revolutionised personal computing and established Apple as a strong brand with a design focus, with him. "I brought this just to show Apple's journey from 1984. This is the first Mac SE which was launched in 1984. I have been using Apple products since 1984. Long journey it has been," said the designer from suburban Goregaon, who had joined the queue at 6 am on Tuesday and got more than just selfies and simple pleasantries with the Apple top executives.

“I have been here since last night 8 pm, been camping outside the Apple store for about 15 hours now. I haven't had breakfast, haven't had a shower and you can see us all drenched in sweat. But yeah, we are super excited," said the first customer to go in, who wished to buy an Apple watch. The second customer to enter the shop took a flight from Rajasthan and joined the queue at 8:30 pm, and credited this to his love for the brand, and also spelt out his aim of being present in New Delhi for the Apple's Saket outlet opening on Thursday. At present Apple accounts for just 3 per cent share in the highly competitive smartphone market dominated by Chinese and Korean brands, but has lately seen high growth in sales, which establishes India's importance. The company is also keen to expand sourcing of products or components from the country, as it looks to diversify its supply chain beyond China.

The company employs 2,500 people in the country and has indirectly helped create 10 lakh jobs through its app ecosystem. Excitement around the store had started to build since Apple announced the launch of two stores in India over a week ago.

The energy, creativity, and passion in Mumbai is incredible! We are so excited to open Apple

BKC- our first store in India - Tim Cook, CEO, Apple