Two Apple stores in Delhi and in Mumbai - opened in April 2023. Until now, Indians could buy Apple products in the country either online or through a vast network of what the company calls ‘premium…

Two Apple stores in Delhi and in Mumbai - opened in April 2023. Until now, Indians could buy Apple products in the country either online or through a vast network of what the company calls ‘premium resellers’. Will the new-found ability to sell products directly to customers in India - the world's second largest smartphone market - impact its fortunes here? Apple has long tried to open physical retail stores in India. In 2019, the Indian government relaxed some investment rules, exempting companies selling ‘cutting-edge’ items, such as Apple's iPhones and iPads, from restrictions.

Apple first launched an online store in India through a website which allows users to request for customised products. Apple’s decision to open physical stores in India could be the next step in its branding strategy. It is not as if this will change Apple’s sales in any dramatic way, but it is still a key milestone, one that will allow Apple to deliver to Indian customers the full Apple experience.

The iPhone is still an aspirational product in the price-sensitive Indian market. When you launch an Apple store, you are basically giving a premium experience to your premium consumers. It might not pull up sales, but it pulls more people into the Apple ecosystem.

Setting up an Apple store in India is also a statement that the country is now big enough for Apple to be actually interested in expanding operations here, and comes at a time when India is rising fast as a manufacturing base for the iPhone.

Apple first began making a lower-end model of the iPhone in India in 2017. Last year, it began producing its latest model of iPhone 14 in the country, which now accounts for 5 percent of total iPhone production.

For years, Apple had relied on China's sophisticated manufacturing network to produce the bulk of its products. But analysts predict that by 2025, a quarter of all iPhones the company makes could be produced in India. Apple was already making between 5-7 percent of its products in India, and they are targeting to go up to 25 percent of their manufacturing capacity.

In 2022, Apple had a 60 percent market share in the Indian ‘premium smartphone’ market - which refers to mobiles that cost INR 40,000 or more, ahead of Samsung's 21 percent share. Apple is doing well across categories. The real issue will be to pull consumers to these flagship centres without alienating the partner sellers.

Apple has finally understood that India’s premium market is growing, so why not be serious about it.