Kolkata: Taking advantage of Indian government's policy on local manufacturing and online sales, tech giant Apple is planning to set up its own online store in the country by year end, reports ET.
While the country is still far away from seeing brick and mortar Apple stores, the Cuppertino- based tech giant will first start selling the locally manufactured iPhone SE on its online store. The company also plans to expand product portfolio to other models as local production increases.
As of now, import duties on phones in India is 12.5 per cent, so phones manufactured and sold in India are now likely to be much cheaper than now.
"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," an Apple executive said. The company plans to start assembling of iPhones in Bengaluru by June.
Referring to Indian government's policy on online sales, two senior industry officials said Apple's online store do not require FDI approval in retail as the government allows companies to directly sell online models manufactured locally.
Apple said that it will not compete on price with products sold on online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart for the products it sells through its own online store. However, Apple said that it will differentiate products on its online store from other marketplaces through value added services such as personalised laser engraving, colour/storage options or dedicated models.
Compared to global smartphone industry average of 30 per cent, around 50 - 55 per cent of iPhones sold in India are through online sales.
As reported, the brick-and-mortar Apple Stores in India will be limited in number and the company is looking at 4-5 such flagship outlets over the next 5-10 years. This is due to the fact that such stores require huge space to suit its architectural design and comes up over iconic locations which are far and few. The offline Apple Stores will initially come up in the metroes.
Local assembling of the iPhone SE in Bengaluru will take place through Taiwanese contract manufacturer 'Wistron'. The tech giant has plans to include local manufacturing to other iPhone models and also partner with Foxconn which is already running a couple of plants in the country.
Source: Times Now