Apple preparing to open new retail stores in India

American devices maker Apple, which makes the worldwide popular iPhone, plans to open new retail stores in India soon. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, recently gave this information while announcing the company’s results. This will make it easier for Apple to increase its sales in India, a large market for smartphones.

Cook had said that the company plans to open new retail stores by the end of this year. He said that Apple sees opportunities to reach more customers by increasing its retail presence in emerging markets. Cook had said, “We recently launched the Apple Store in Saudi Arabia. We are excited to open new stores in India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the end of this year. We are also happy to welcome customers to a new location in Osaka, Japan.” However, Cook has not given the locations of the new stores or any other information.

Apple’s sales in India have increased rapidly in the last few years. The company opened two retail stores in the country about two years ago. Earlier this year, Cook had said that the company plans to open four new stores in the country. The company’s existing stores are in Delhi and Mumbai. Recently, a media report had said that Apple plans to open new stores at Sky City Mall in Borivali, Mumbai and Phoenix Mall of Asia in Bengaluru. Two stores of the company can also be opened in DLF Mall of India in Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Kopa Mall in Pune in Maharashtra.

Apple’s iPhone 16 has the highest shipment in India in the second quarter of this year. In the second quarter, the ultra-premium smartphone segment (priced above Rs 45,000) grew by about 37 percent year-on-year. Apple and South Korean smartphone maker Samsung have maintained their strong position in this segment. No-cost EMI offers, trade-in programs and special summer discounts are the main reasons behind the increase in sales of these companies.