Google is preparing to open an offline store in India, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three unnamed officials. When the store opens, it will be the first store outside of the U.S.
According to reports, Google has decided on candidates for offline store openings in India’s capital New Delhi, neighboring Gurugram, and financial hub Mumbai, and the final stage of confirming them is underway.
The store is 15,000 square feet and is expected to take at least half a year to open. Google’s smartphones, such as pixel phones, watches, and earphones, will be on sale at the store.
“The purpose is to compete with Apple,” an official said. “We are targeting the luxury sector in particular.”
Google currently operates five brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S., but there are no stores outside the U.S.
India is considered the world’s second largest smartphone market after China, with 712 million people using smartphones.
Earlier, Google saw India as a key growth market and promised to invest $10 billion, and is producing Google Pixel phones in India.
However, Google has recently experienced many regulatory and legal problems in India.
In 2022, the Indian Competition Commission (CCI), an anti-trust investigative agency in India, imposed a total of $275 million in fines, saying Google’s policy to mandate app payments was unfair and restricted Google from developing and selling devices on operating systems other than Android to mobile manufacturers.
Accordingly, Google is in a court battle with CCI.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
