“Apple, the Cupertino-based world’s most valuable electronics maker, has decided to go big in India. After being on the fringes for long, the company is finally set to cut loose in the fast-growing Indian phone market,” The Times of India reports. “The world’s most admired electronics brand — that sells devices such as the iPhone, iPad tablet and iPod media player — plans 500 stores in the country in its first major push that will include moving into smaller towns and cities.”
“Apple currently operates in India through two key distributors — Redington and Ingram, who in turn supply the products to regional distributors, multi-product trade channels and Apple Premium Re-seller stores and Apple Authorized Re-seller outlets. Redington is one of the biggest partners for Apple in India and accounts for nearly 70% of its sales,” The Times of India reports. “Sources said the company feels that there is ‘very high’ potential for its products, including in smaller towns and cities like Amritsar, Pathankot, Moga, Coimbatore, Trichy, Nagpur and Nasik. Currently, the company is big in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. ”
“The sources said Apple has “tentatively approved” the expansion proposal and will give a final go-ahead very soon, defining all the parameters and phases of expansion,” The Times of India reports. “‘These new stores will be smaller in size and could range from 300-600 sq ft against over 2,000 sq ft size of existing stores in bigger cities.’ A franchise model is likely to be adopted and could be spearheaded by Redington. Apple is also expected to increase spending for direct advertising in India, apart from publicity undertaken by its distributors.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Sarah” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
I wonder if, in India, they banned the word Indians.
what took so long