Apple building development centre in India, its first outside of the US - CNET

Apple investing in India comes as no surprise, as the country, home to over 1.3 billion, is entering a technological boom period with smartphone and Inteet markets growing at staggering rates.

Despite this, the company only has around a 2 percent marketshare in India, thanks in part to the expense of its premium products -- cheaper budget and midrange phones by the likes of local brand Micromax and the South Korean Samsung are most popular in the country. This may not be a problem for long though, with rumours that Apple will soon be introducing a smaller, cheaper iPhone to its range.

Earlier in the month, it was reported that Apple is on the cusp of winning approval from Indian regulators to open retail stores in the country, with its products presently only available in India through resellers. Normally, India requires that any foreign business selling a single brand in the country buy all its components from local manufacturers, something that would be an obstacle for Apple, which gets most of its parts from Chinese vendors. That requirement has reportedly been waved since Apple has been classified as a "provider of cutting-edge technology," a source told Bloomberg.