- Apple is gearing up to open retail stores in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai.
- As of now, the giant hasn't confirmed the timeline for these store launches.
- Apple also confirmed that they have started manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including the high-end Pro models in India.
India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world. Also, it is one of the biggest markets for Apple, and the giant is all set to deepen its presence in India. Apple announced that it will open four more retail stores in India. Apple has also begun manufacturing its iPhone 16 series domestically. The first-ever India-made iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available as early as this month.
The first two Apple stores were opened in Mumbai and Delhi last year. Now, to expand its retail presence, the Cupertino tech giant is gearing up to open retail stores in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai. However, Apple hasn’t confirmed the timeline for these store launches.
“We’re thrilled to build our teams as we plan to open more stores in India because we’re inspired by the creativity and passion of our customers across this country. We can’t wait for them to have even more opportunities to discover and shop for our amazing products and services and connect with our extraordinary, knowledgeable team members.”– Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail
Apple mentioned that they currently have over 3,000 employees in India, including people working in retail. With four more Apple stores in India, this number could increase dramatically. Earlier this year, Apple also opened a new office in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that spans across 15 floors. This super-spacious office can house up to 1,200 employees and has a dedicated lab space, areas for wellness & collaboration, and Caffe Macs.
Apple also confirmed that they have started manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including the high-end Pro models in India through its manufacturing partners Foxconn and Pegatron. The giant first began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, starting with the affordable iPhone SE model. Last year, Apple also assembled the iPhone 15 in India. This move comes as Apple plans to diversify production beyond China amid rising tensions between the US and the Asian country. Also, it’s one of the biggest opportunities to tap into India’s rapidly growing smartphone market.
Thanks to the local assembly, the iPhone 16 Pro models have seen a price drop compared to last year’s iPhone 15 Pro models. However, the pricing of the non-Pro models remains unchanged. The made-in-India iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will soon be available to local consumers and for export to select countries.
It’s worth knowing that the latest iPhone 16 models won’t ship with AI features right out of the box, no matter which country they are made in. Talking about the Apple Intelligence release date, Apple has already confirmed that AI features would be first available to the public in U.S. English via an iOS 18 version arriving in October. We’ll have to wait for quite a long time as Apple Intelligence will be in India in 2025.
