Apple, Samsung Electronics and HP are among the hugest names stopping new imports of laptops and tablets to India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government suddenly enforced a ban on shipments without a licence. Regulators on Thursday astonished the world’s hugest PC makers when they made licences compulsory for import of electronics, from small tablets to all-in-one PCs, without a licence.
Laptop makers had been bracing for some government measures which had a goal of bringing down reliance on imports and enhancing local production, but the sudden licensing enforcement held the industry off guard. Tech firms are now involving with New Delhi on how to most swiftly gain licences at a time of heightened consumer interest, with India’s Diwali shopping season and back-to-school period coming soon.
Nobody can estimate how long it would take for Apple and the others to get licences, but the stoppage is already putting restrictions in a multibillion-dollar trade in foreign PCs at an important time. The need makes extra problems for manufacturers already dealing with a global glut of inventory and burden of restarting sales development. It could give a birth to delayed India launches or even product shortages in a market that is still hugely dependent on shipments coming from over the seas.