Just yesterday, it was reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook could visit India this week to meet PM Narendra Modi. Now, a new report from Factor Daily is stating that the company will open three retail stores in India by the end of 2017.
The three retail stores will be set up in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai in next 18 months, a source familiar to the matter told the publication. Each of these stores are said to be spread across 10,000 square feet and will be located at popular locations of these metros. As per a source, Apple executives are searching real estate for these stores that will need investment of $3 million to $5 million (₹20 crore to₹33 crore) each. The report goes on saying that a team of 40 Apple executives has been working on the project in Gurugram office for past few months.
Apple is close to getting DIPP approval for opening single brand retail stores in India and recently the DIPP panel has recommended to exempt the company from 30% sourcing condition for retail stores. Last month, it was reported that Apple is evaluating investment options in the country.
Along with the retail store, Apple is also expected to announce a start-up accelerator in India, as per Economic Times report. The official announcement about the accelerator will be made later this week with Cook’s visit to India. Sell of refurbished iPhones and initiatives for startups and digital India will be some of the major discussion points for Cook’s visit to India. Apple might be in the eight spot in the Indian smartphone market but the company’s shipments grew 56% making it the second fastest smartphone maker from among the top 10 vendors.