Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is all set to further increase its retail footprint in India.
After the iPhone maker registered close to 100% y-oy growth in sales in 2020, the push to expand its retail presence in the country comes at a time when Apple has decided to widen the scope of manufacturing iPhones in the country.
The planned expansion will mostly be driven by exclusive retail partners the California, Cupertino based giant has tied up with as its self-owned flagship store located in Mumbai is still not ready to be unveiled.
According to the Apple-exclusive retailers in India, the sales have already surpassed that of the pre-COVID levels, and thus, expansion is definitely on the cards.
Baljinder Paul Sing, Director of Unicorn Infosolutions and one such exclusive retailer of the iPhone maker, mentioned that they will be opening seven news outlets across north and west India.
Unicorn Infosolutions is Apple’s largest retail partner in the country and currently runs 29 retail stores along with 21 service centres. Singh also revealed that business has been going strong, and the entire portfolio of Apple products such as smartphones, MacBooks, iPads and wearables shows a healthy demand.
Kapil Mendiratta, CEO of Future World, another Apple retail partner, mentioned that they are also planning to expand to a whopping 30 stores against 10 stores and the six service centres that are already operational at present. Mendiratta said that they want to expand into the tier-II and tier-III cities mainly.
In 2020, despite the pandemic-led business slowdown and lockdowns, Apple still managed to sell close to 2.8 million estimated iPhone units, registering a growth rate of 93% as per the data from the research firm IDC.
In a statement about the same, Navkendar Singh, Research Director at IDC, said that the aspiration to own an Apple product continues to be strong. Therefore, it is being expected that the company will log similar figures in 2021 as well.
Apple saw a massive surge in demand for their tablets in H2 2020, all thanks to the sudden boom of the work-from-home phenomenon caused by the social distancing norms and self-imposed house arrests.
Singh further added that during the lockdown, consumers were able to divert their disposable income to trusted luxury brands such as Apple because people were restricted from travelling, eating out or spending money on fuel. Also, during the same period, devices such as the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR enjoyed a greater demand as their prices were slashed down after Apple introduced its flagship iPhone 12 series.
All in all, it is well understood that Apple is roaring to dominate the premium segment of smartphones in the country. And it is betting big on local manufacturing, which has led to the company being able to provide better pricing to Indian consumers. Lastly, it is important to note that much of Apple’s retail growth is also being fuelled by easy purchase plans such as cashbacks, incentive offers from credit card companies and EMI options.
We will keep you updated on all future developments. Until then, stay tuned.
