Apple started a new chapter in India with its first official stores in Mumbai and Delhi in only late April and the stores have grossed monthly sales of around Rs 22 crore-Rs 25 crore each, said a report by the Economic Times on Thursday. Apple BKC store in Mumbai and Apple store in Saket have been paying Rs 42 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, respectively, as rent.
The report added, citing industry experts, that the figures are twice the profits garnered by an electronics store during non-festive seasons like Diwali. The sales record establishes Apple BKC and Saket as the biggest electronics stores in India in terms of revenue, just weeks after their grand launch. The Apple BKC store in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex witnessed a sale of Rs 10 crore on the first day of its launch whereas a big electronics store makes somewhere around Rs 7 crore per month.
It is being said that Apple's two retail stores have set high records due to the high average selling price (ASP) of its devices such as iPhones and iPads, which are more as compared to other brands. also, high footfall since opening also translated into big revenue. The report added, quoting industry experts that the sales exceeded the iPhone maker's expectations.
Apple's New Love Story With India Began With Opening Of 2 Official Stores
To recall, Apple's official stores in India were opened in April, almost twenty years after Asia got its first Apple Store.
The opening of Apple's first retail stores in India comes amid the tech giant's broader retail push into the country, where its market share is relatively low. The duo of Apple Stores have a tie-up with the Apple India Online Store, thus, allowing buyers to make a purchase and pick that order from Apple BKC or Apple Saket.
Mumbai contributed to 10 per cent of overall iPhone sales and is the second largest market for Apple in India, after Delhi, according to market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research's "India City Level Tracker". Apple has been locally assembling iPhone models in India since 2017, but the devices, including other Apple products, remain expensive in India.
Meanwhile, tech giants Apple and Samsung are interested in increasing electronics production in India, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar recently said, according to a report by news agency Bloomberg.