Apple, Samsung Stop India Laptop Imports After Sudden Curbs

Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and HP Inc. are among the biggest names freezing new imports of laptops and tablets to India after an abrupt ban on inbound shipments without a license.

Regulators on Thursday surprised the world’s biggest PC makers when they made licenses mandatory for import of electronics from small tablets to all-in-one PCs without a license. Laptop makers had been bracing for some government measures aimed at reducing reliance on imports and boosting local production, but the sudden licensing imposition caught the industry off-guard, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Tech firms are now engaging with the central government on how to most quickly obtain licenses at a period of heightened consumer interest with India’s Diwali shopping season and back-to-school period approaching, the people said. It’s unclear how long it would take for Apple et al to get licenses, but the halt is already disrupting a multibillion-dollar trade in foreign PCs at a crucial time.

Representatives for trade ministry, Apple, Samsung and HP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The requirement creates additional headaches for manufacturers already grappling with a global glut of inventory and few triggers to restart sales growth. It could result in delayed India launches or even product shortages in a maket that’s still largely reliant on shipments from overseas.

The import restriction, an example of India’s sudden policy shifts, adds to longstanding measures designed to discourage bringing in foreign electronics. It’s intended in part to realize longer-term ambitions to create a world-class tech manufacturing industry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is currently seeking applications for a 170 billion-rupee financial incentive plan to draw makers of laptops, tablets and other hardware to the world’s most populous nation as companies look to diversify supply chains beyond China.