India May Soon Be Getting 100 Exclusive Apple Stores, Thanks To Tata Group

India's Tata Group is reportedly eyeing to launch 100 small exclusive Apple Inc. AAPL stores across the country.

What Happened: Apple is coming together with Tata-owned Infiniti Retail – a leading consumer durables and electronics (CDE) retailer in India, which operates under the brand name Croma – to launch about 100 such stores, reported The Economic Times.

This is part of the Cupertino-based tech giant’s efforts to strengthen its presence in India. 

The exclusive Apple stores will be of about 500-600 sq ft each at malls and other high-street and neighboring areas and will be smaller in size than Apple Premium Reseller stores, which are typically more than 1,000 sq ft in area, two people aware of the development told the publication. 

See Also: Never Lose Your Things Again — The Startup Pouring Gasoline on the Apple AirTag

While Apple's premium stores in the country will feature the entire Apple range from iPhones to MacBooks, the small exclusive stores will mostly be selling iPhones, iPads and watches. There are about 160 Apple Premium Reseller stores in India.

The report, citing a retail consultant, added that the Indian conglomerate has already begun discussions with premium malls and high streets for space and the lease terms include details of brands and stores that can't be opened near the outlet.

The Tata-Apple partnership comes as the tech giant eyes further expansion in India after recent protests and COVID-19 lockdowns in China battered its production. Last week, reports indicated that Apple is planning to shift some of its iPad production from China to India after massive protests at its iPhone-making plant.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Europe and Asia coverage by following this link.