Apple has long sold its iPhones in India via third-party retailers, such as Amazon, Flipkart or Reliance Jio. But it has never sold them direct to the Indian consumer. Until now.

After years of rumor, Bloomberg is reporting this week that Apple will finally open an online store in India from September 2020 -- right before the Diwali holiday season of November.

This comes after other news that Apple will build physical stores across Mumbai and perhaps Bangalore in 2021.

Covid concerns aside, the move and timing are good strategy. Apple always performs best when it can fully control the retail channel and wow customers with trendy shops, persuasive sales staff (Genius), or a slick website.

Apple iPhone has long struggled with India, and it still holds only 1% marketshare. But the expansion of direct-retail channels is the right thing to do. More stores and more websites will mean more sales. This is something we have long highlighted in our India Smartphone Channel report, published here.