Apple has been trying to extend its presence in emerging markets like India and China which might soon be a major source of revenue for Apple. Reports already indicate that China will be the major revenue source for Apple by 2017 and will even surpass US in terms of revenue. Though India and China are both emerging markets the adaption of smartphones and tablets in India is way lesser than in China. Currently there are around 12% to 15% of smartphones in India compared to 30% to 35% in China out of sales of all phones in their respective countries. The Indian government might have approved Single Brand Retail FDI recently which enables companies like Apple to set up their dedicated stores but the simple clause of having at least 30% of the production of the resources to happen from India is not being met by them. Apple seems to be aggressively expanding their presence in India by tripling up their number of stores and also making their presence felt in multi brand retails across the country.
But this clause is not stopping Apple to provide a world class experience in India that it provides in other major countries, Apple seems to have asked its premium resellers in India to revamp their stores to make them look more like their global dedicated Apple Store outlets for which an estimated amount of Rs. 1 crore has to be spent. Apple seems to have assured their premium resellers that all the amount spent on revamping their stores will be reimbursed over a period of 1 year to the stores.
Recent reports indicate a strong growth for sales of iPads and iPhones in India with Apple bagging 2nd spot in number of smartphones sold in India over 2012. With attractive offers like EMI (Equated Monthly Instalments) that are more customised to Indian mindsets Apple was able to push out quite a lot of their smartphones and tablets in India.
Source: EconomicTimes