Apple is looking to accelerate its India retail strategy, with the company announcing plans to open 4 more Apple Retail stores in the country. This comes on the back of record India sales that Apple registered in recent financial results, surge in footprints across its two retails stores in the country and a push to diversify manufacturing from China to India.
The new stores are expected to come up in India’s tech powerhouses Bengaluru and Pune, with additional stores in financial capital Mumbai, and national capital Delhi-NCR. Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail, said: “We are thrilled to build our teams as we plan to open more stores in India, because we are inspired by the creativity and passion of our customers across this country. We can’t wait for them to have even more opportunities to discover and shop for our amazing products and services, and connect with our extraordinary, knowledgeable team members.”
Apple has had a rather delayed entry to India, compared to its peers such as Samsung and Chinese brands. While Apple has sold its devices in the country through “official resellers”, it was only in April last year, that the Cupertino tech giant opened its self-owned, official stores in the country. In April 2023, Apple opened stores in Mumbai and Delhi, which immediately became a runaway success.
Apple’s India strategy, though delayed, has seen accelerated efforts, specially post-COVID. The company is already manufacturing its latest iPhone 16 models in the country, thereby significantly reducing retail prices and making the phones more accessible. Starting this year, the company will also manufacture its more complicated Pro line-ups of the iPhone. India has now also been a regular in the first list of markets where Apple’s latest products get launched, and consumers have responded back in similar fashion. Several media outlets reported long queues seen outside Apple’s Mumbai and Delhi store, akin to the ones people are habitual to seeing in the US and other markets.
In terms of revenue growth too, Apple has made significant strides, recording its best ever figures in Q3 of 2024. It recorded nearly $6Bn in quarterly revenue and $23Bn in annual revenue, both figures which have now become significant growth drivers for the company. These numbers also come at a time when Apple is looking at India as its final growth frontier, as the country, despite its massive middle-class base, continues to be massively underserved in terms of Apple products.
