Apple is likely to open its next stores in Noida’s Mall of India and Pune’s Kopa Mall as part of the second phase of its retail expansion in India, according to people in the know.
The company has already finalised the locations in these two malls and is looking for two more places in Bengaluru and Mumbai, they said.
The tech giant had earlier announced that it would open new stores in these four cities, after witnessing a huge success at the existing stores in Mumbai’s BKC and Delhi’s Saket.
Last month, job postings on LinkedIn showed that the Cupertino-based company has started hiring people for its four new stores. Out of 20 job postings, eight were specific to Apple Retail.
The company has seen a significant jump in sales in India since 2021. According to industry data, Apple hit the market share of 11% in the Indian smartphone market in the October-December quarter, breaking into the top five brands by sales.
The sales of iPhones have tripled since 2021 despite these devices being nearly three times as costly as the average selling price of phones in the country.
In December Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company was “particularly keen on India, which set a December-quarter record during the quarter”.
Apple is also expanding its manufacturing in India and aims to shift around 25% of its total production capacity here.
This has become more necessary amid the high tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump government in the US against China, which was the largest manufacturer for the company.
According to Reuters, Apple recently chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones to the United States from India, after stepping up the production here.
According to people in the know, Apple is also conducting a “New Production Introduction” (NPI) for the upcoming iPhone 17 at a facility here. In NPIs, the company takes a prototype design and makes it into a blueprint suitable for mass production.
Currently, Apple makes all four models of the iPhone 16 in India, including the premium Pro models. It has several contract manufacturers and partners here, including Foxconn, Wistron, Aequs and Tata Electronics.
The company will said to have plans to start assembling the AirPods here soon.