New Delhi: Encouraged by the excellent reception to its Mumbai and Delhi retail stores, Apple announced on Friday that it is preparing to open more exclusive, own-brand stores in the country, where the iPhone maker is seeing an increase in both domestic and export sales.
The anticipation is high as new Apple retail outlets are set to open in Bangalore, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai. However, no timeline has been established thus far.
According to Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail, the company is 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”.
“Our stores are incredible places to experience the magic of Apple, and it’s been wonderful to deepen our connection with our customers in India,” said O’Brien.
“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, knowledgable team members,” she said in a statement.
The business has announced that the whole iPhone 16 series, including the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, is now being manufactured in India.
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, built in India, will soon be accessible to local customers and exported to select nations around the world.
Apple presently operates its own branded retail stores in Saket, Delhi, and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai.
Apple’s retail expansion in India comes as the iPhone 16 and Pro models are already being manufactured locally and exported to other nations. The new Apple flagship retail shops will drive Apple’s expansion in the following years.
Meanwhile, thanks to the production-linked incentive (PLI) plan, Apple exported over $5 billion in iPhones from India between April and August of this fiscal year. According to industry data, this represents a more than 50% increase over the same period in the first five months of FY24.
iPhone shipments from India have substantially increased, reaching $12.1 billion in 2023-24 from $6.27 billion in 2022-23. In the previous fiscal year (FY24), the company’s India activities were valued at $23.5 billion, a promising sign for Apple’s growth in the region.
The company’s revenues in India are likely to grow 18 percent (year-on-year) in 2024. Last year, Apple clocked almost 10 million iPhone sales in India, its highest ever in the country. This year, this figure is set to grow to over 13 million units.
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–IANS
File Photo: IANS/Nitin Lawate
