India has become a huge market for the international tech giants and with the economic opportunities the country is offering, more companies will come in the future. Apple is quite serious about growing their business in India and the company’s CEO Tim Cook has said that very soon they will open retail stores too. With these retail stores in various cities, they will be able to expand their customer base and expand their global market share. In the beginning of 2016, it was somewhat clear that Apple is thinking about opening branded outlets in the country, but the confirmation came much later. India has a substantial amount of iPhone users, but the amount of authorized Apple shops is very few. According to reports, the paperwork has been filled last month and now they are waiting to get the green signal from the government, so that they can begin operation in India.
retail stores
In India, there are numerous resellers and online stores, where Apple products like iPhone, iPad, etc. are sold. The market share in this sector is approximately 2% and Apple is clearly not happy with that. Product sales are bound to increase with more outlets and the users will also get a chance to have a one on one interaction with the customer care representatives. This will solve most of the problems and the people will also understand the functioning of the products in a much better way. In various established markets, the growth of iPhone sales is not impressive and it is quite a big problem which Apple faces. So, they are constantly venturing into newer regions to keep the growth curve steady.
But in the Indian market, they are some challenges too. It is true that the smartphone market of the country is growing at a rapid pace and more people are becoming tech-savvy, but budget phones are more popular here. Vendors like Samsung, Micromax and Lenovo are doing well, as they have producing pocket-friendly smartphones which have amazing features. Apple on the other hand manufactures premium products which target a particular section of the population. Apple earned a massive $1 billion revenue from India in 2015, with very little retail presence. This is the main reason behind this huge move, which may very well revolutionize the Indian smartphone market.
