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India to soon have physical Apple store, says report

Apple

After several delays, India might soon have physical Apple stores in India in 2023. According to a recent Financial Times report, the tech giant has posted new openings for 12 retail roles at “various locations” including Mumbai and Delhi. The openings include both part-time and full-time positions. Apple has yet not officially announced stores in the country.

Apple has long wanted to open its own retail stores in India. In 2020, Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, said, “I don’t want somebody else to run the brand for us.”

The first physical Apple Store in the country was set to open in 2021 but was pushed to last year due to Covid19 pandemic. In July 2022, the Economic Times reported that Apple was planning to open a store spanning 22,000 square feet in Mumbai in 2023 along with a 10,000 – 12,000 square foot store in New Delhi. The speculated 22,000-square-foot store at Mumbai’s Jio World Drive mall is expected to be a retail landmark in the country, similar to Apple’s outlets in New York, Beijing, Milan, Singapore, and Los Angeles.

Apple is looking to expand its footprint in India. Last year, the company led the premium segment with 40 per cent share, followed by Samsung and OnePlus Apple reached its highest-ever share of 5 percent in the country’s smartphone market during the third quarter of 2022, which was driven by a strong channel push ahead of the festive season.

Apple is betting on India to make it a major iPhone-producing country. In November, reports came in that Foxconn is planning to expand its workforce four times in the next two years at the company’s plant in Tamil Nadu. The company plans to recruit 53,000 more workers to expand it to around 70,000 in the country, according to a Reuters report quoting Indian government officials.

Currently, Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu facility is assembling flagship ships models like iPhone 14. Recently, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that India could see 40-45 per cent of iPhone production which is currently at 5 per cent.

 

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