Apple to open first retail store in India next year, says CEO Tim Cook

Apple Inc will open its first physical retail store in India in 2021, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Wednesday.

Responding to a question from a shareholder at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in Cupertino, California about the company's plans for India, Cook said Apple would start selling its products online in the country this year and will open its first Apple-branded store there next year.

"We needed to get approval from the government to go in there ourselves" rather than with a domestic partner, Cook said. "I don't want somebody else to run the brand for us."