According to the Economic Times, the “Croma” network of stores, which is owned by the Tata Group and operated by Infiniti Retail, aims to open 100 locations in India that will only offer Apple products.
100 outlets, each 500–600 square feet in size, will be opened by Infiniti Retail as an Apple franchisee partner in malls, as well as on high streets and in residential areas. Because they have been designated as Apple Authorized Reseller locations, these stores will only offer Apple items.
The new Apple Authorized Reseller stores, which normally have an area of more than 1,000 square feet, will reportedly be smaller than Apple Premium Reseller locations. The larger stores will carry the complete line of Apple products, including MacBooks, while the smaller stores will focus mostly on selling iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
Since the start of the pandemic, Apple’s performance in the country has been especially good as users have turned to its products to manage work and school from home. India has continuously been one of Apple’s fastest-growing markets.
Apple’s iPhone sales worldwide hit a record high in the third quarter of September at $42.6 billion, up 10% from the same time last year. Strong sales of the new iPhone 14 series in India were the main factor in this surge. In India, the number of iPhones sold increased by 44% between July and September, hitting over 1.7 million units, according to CyberMedia Research (CMR).
Apple aims to export goods created in India to international markets in addition to increasing its production capacity there to meet the rising demand for its products on the domestic market. By doing this, the business will be able to lessen its reliance on manufacturing hotspots like China and possibly prevent some of the supply chain disruptions that have previously had an impact on its operations.
Source: The Economic Times (paywall)
