Apple inaugurated it’s first-ever store in India on Tuesday at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, highlighting the company’s ambitious development strategy in the nation. The enormous new store in Mumbai, spread over 20,000 square feet, symbolises Apple’s strategic tilt towards India as it aims to boost its footprint in the burgeoning region, which presently accounts for only 3% of its worldwide share.
The Mumbai shop will be followed on 20 April by the launching of a comparable facility in New Delhi’s Saket. CEO Tim Cook, who is in India for the opening of the two stores, greeted customers directly at the two-story location.
The store’s opening coincides with Apple, the world’s largest firm by market capitalisation, setting a new high in India.
Here are the major figures indicating Apple’s aggressive India effort.
* Apple’s sales in India reached a record high of over $6 billion in the fiscal year through March. This is despite India accounting for only 3% of the global market.
* The iPhone maker’s income in India increased by over 50% year on year, to $4.1 billion. Apple reported sales of Rs 333.8 billion ($4.1 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2022.
* After quickening its expansion beyond China, Apple has increased its output in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market.
* Through increasing partners ranging from Foxconn Technology Group to Pegatron, the US Corporation currently manufactures about 7% of its iPhones in India.
* While the figure may appear little, the rate of increase has been rather significant. Notably, India will only account for 1% of the world’s iPhones in 2021.
* Apple’s vendors Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron employ over 60,000 people in India, producing models ranging from the ageing iPhone 11 to the most recent iPhone 14.
* Foxconn, located in Taiwan, has struck an agreement with the Karnataka government to build a $700 plant on 300 acres off Doddaballapur in Bengaluru. The new iPhone manufacturing factory is planned to employ 1 lakh people.
* India’s mobile phone exports increased from Rs 45,000 crore in FY 21-22 to Rs 90,000 crore, highlighting the sector’s critical importance in India’s electronics export industry.
* In India, mobile phone exports currently account for 46% of total electronic products exports.
And here are some interesting statistics regarding Apple Inc…
* Apple’s market capitalization exceeds the GDP of up to 25 nations, including Ecuador, Libya, and Iraq.
* In 2022, Apple had over 140,000 employees worldwide.
* Some rumours claim that Apple has more cash on hand than the US government. According to a Business Chief article from 2020, the US government had an operational cash balance of $73.8 billion in 2020, whereas Apple had $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities.
* Since the first iPhone was introduced in 2007, Apple has sold over 2.2 billion units.
* Apple’s net value is expected to be $3.3 trillion in 2023.
