Apple Reportedly Opening Its Online Store in India This Year

[Grace Liu]

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Apple will reportedly be opening its own online store in India and start selling locally manufactured iPhone SE through it. The company then plans on expanding its product portfolio as it starts producing more local content in the country.

Norms from the Indian government allow a company to directly sell products through online channels in the country if they are manufactured locally. Around 50 percent of the iPhone sales in India occur through online channels, which is higher than the industry average. This can likely be attributed to the heavy discounts that e-commerce websites give on the smartphone to push sales.

“Apple will initially start its online store by selling iPhone SE which will be manufactured in India and will be in line with government policies. The company is hopeful to start the online store in India around Diwali,” said one of the executive.

Apple, however, will not be indulging in any online price war when it starts selling the iPhone SE through its own online store. Instead, to offer a better value proposition to its customers, Apple will offer value-added services like laser engraving and sell variants of its products that are only available online.

Apple also plans on opening its own retail stores in India, though it does not plan to grow as rapidly here as it did in China. Over the next decade, Apple is looking to open 5-6 flagship stores in major metro cities of the country.