Apple to open first company-owned retail store in India

Apple Inc is set to open its first official retail store in India's financial hub of Mumbai, the iPhone maker said on Wednesday.

The Cupertino, California-based company launched an online retail store in India in 2020. Its 2021 plans for the launch of an offline retail store in the country were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apple products have been sold in India for years on ecommerce platforms such as Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc's Flipkart as well as through resellers.

India is the world's second-largest smartphone market, with nearly 700 million smartphone users.

Some products in Apple's catalogue, including iPhones, are assembled in India by Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturers Foxconn (2317.TW) and Wistron Corp (3231.TW).

Around $9 billion worth of smartphones were exported from India between April 2022 and February this year, and iPhones accounted for more than 50% of that, according to the India Cellular and Electronics Association.

Apple also plans to assemble iPads and AirPods in India.