MUMBAI: American tech-giant Apple, on Monday, said the opening of its first two retail stores in India marks a major expansion in the country.
The iPhone maker, which started manufacturing its products in India in 2017, has increased its production capacity manifold in the past year. After completing more than 25 years in India, Apple will launch its first two stores in Mumbai and Delhi.
“At Apple, our mission is to enrich lives and empower people around the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
“India has such a beautiful culture and incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history — supporting our customers, investing in local communities and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.”
The company said India’s vibrant community of app developers now supports more than 1 million jobs.
“A testament to the tremendous growth of developers in India, App Store payouts to developers in the country have more than tripled since 2018,” Apple said in a statement.
It further said that at the iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, Apple works one-on-one with developers to help take their apps from good to great.
The company said Apple’s work with Indian suppliers of all sizes supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.
Apple has made commitments to be 100% carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by 2030.
Therefore, the company said, all active Indian manufacturing supply chain partners are committed to using 100% clean energy for their Apple operations.
“Building on its work to expand recycled materials across its products, last week Apple announced it will use 100 per cent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries by 2025,” the company statement said.
According to CyberMedia Research (CMR), the iPhone maker captured a 4% market share in the country with a 17% year-on-year increase in its shipments in 2022. It sold nearly 6.7 million units in 2022, as against 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020.
The Cupertino-based company has started assembling the latest iPhone 14 models in India, weeks after its launch.