India is a market that Apple is working very hard to capture. The company has a desire to start selling refurbished iPhones in the country, further pushing down the entry price for people looking to buy their first iPhone, but it has encountered a dead end. Even though Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited India where he met some very notable figures including the country’s prime minister, India has declined to provide Apple with the permission to start selling refurbished iPhones in the country.
The country’s minister of commerce and industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, confirmed through a press conference today that the government isn’t going to allow Apple to sell refurbished iPhones in India. “We are not in favor of any company selling used phones… however certified they may be,” Sitharaman said.
Apple isn’t exactly going to be happy with this decision. It has been looking forward to better cater to customers in India where affordability can be an issue with expensive smartphones like the iPhone. Selling refurbished units will enable customers to get an iPhone for much less than what a new handset costs.
The government isn’t convinced, though, so it appears that the company will have to do a significant amount of lobbying to get the Indian government to grant its wish. Apple’s plans for retail stores in India isn’t going well too as the country’s finance minister has said that the company has to source 30 percent of its components locally if it wants to open retail stores in India.