A view of Apple’s first company-owned store in India to be launched contained in the Jio World Drive mall at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.
Ashish Vaishnav | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Apple is about to open its first physical stores in India next week, highlighting the country’s importance to the U.S. tech firm’s future in iPhone sales and manufacturing,
The Cupertino giant will open a store in Mumbai on Apr. 18 and within the Indian capital Delhi on Apr. 20.
Apple CEO Tim Cook may travel to India to open the stores, Bloomberg reported, citing people conversant in the matter. The move underscores his bullishness towards the world’s fifth-largest economy.
Cook’s visit, almost 7 years since his inaugural trip to India, comes as Apple is trying to boost retail sales of its products and its manufacturing activity locally.
Apple has been bolstering its inroads into the Indian market, which has been dominated by low-to-mid-cost smartphones from corporations resembling Samsung and Xiaomi. IPhone shipments grew 16% year-on-year in 2022 and Apple was the primary player within the premium segment of the market, that are phones above $365, in keeping with Counterpoint Research. While it is simply now trying to open its first physical retail location in India, the corporate has had a web-based store there since 2020.
“I’m very bullish on India,” Cook said during a February earnings call covering Apple’s results for the December quarter, when the tech giant observed record iPhone revenues in India, while the variety of regional iPhone users increased to “double-digit.”
Apple is “putting a big amount of energy” in India, Cook stressed on the time.
Retail is simply one step. On the manufacturing front, Apple began assembling its flagship iPhone 14 in India last 12 months — the primary time that the corporate has produced its latest device within the country, so near its initial launch. Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of commerce and industry, said in January that Apple is aiming to make 25% of all of its iPhones in India.
The manufacturing push in India comes as Apple is looking to scale back its reliance on China, where it currently makes the majority of its iPhones. Fragilities in China were exposed last 12 months, after production was disrupted by a COVID-19 outbreak and employee protests on the world’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China, which is run by Taiwanese firm Foxconn.
