Apple Prepares to Expand Into the New Promising Market

Job Postings in a Key Market

However, the tech giant may have found a way to grow. Apple is making a major move into India's smartphone market with the upcoming opening of its Apple Stores in India, which is currently the second market in terms of smartphone sales, just behind China.

The company recently published a dozen job postings for Apple stores in "various locations in India."

Among the positions available are "In-Store Leader," "In-Genius," "In-Specialist," "In-Senior Manager," "In-Technical Specialist," "In-Market Leader," "In-Operations Expert," "In-Creative," "In-Business Expert," "In-Manager."

"It's your job, as a Store Leader, to build and manage the various teams that engage customers in this dynamic environment," explains one position summary.

"In-Genius," a role familiar to Apple Store visitors, is even clearer: "At the Apple Store, whether you work full-time or part-time, you maintain customers' trust in Apple as a skilled technician, troubleshooting and repairing products," the LinkedIn description explains.

During the first 24 hours of the role's posting, the company received more than 200 applications from people interested in the job, according to LinkedIn. The сorporation has not revealed how many people it will hire for the entire position in the long run.

Although Apple hasn't announced how many Apple Stores it intends to open or where it will open them, the company says it is seeking "In-Genius" candidates in Mumbai and New Delhi. The flagship store, according to many experts, will be opened in Mumbai, most likely in March.

Indian Apple Store job openings were first reported by the Financial Times.

Indian Businesses Aim to Compete with China

Apple has been working hard to make its mark on the Indian market, with plans to open its first physical store in the country. Initially planned for 2020 after its online store launch, the opening was pushed back to 2021 and then postponed to 2022.

The Indian government had strict requirements regarding foreign companies, so Apple was unable to establish a meaningful presence in the country. As part of the requirements, iPhones had to be produced in India, and 30% of all products sold in stores were made locally. With Apple's local manufacturing, the last condition was removed.

Apple's move to India is a huge step forward for the company, which aims to rely less on China. The company will be able to consolidate its phone-making operations in the country, which are currently quite small.

Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that 3 million iPhones were produced in India in 2021, while 230 million were made in China. Southern India is the location of Apple's iPhone manufacturing facilities.

However, changes are on their way. Apple shook up its tradition in 2022 by having the iPhone 14 manufactured in India straight away after the device was announced.

Additionally, Apple's suppliers have a lot to gain from the expansion of production in India, where the Modi government promotes the country as a viable alternative to Chinese manufacturing.

Production-Linked Incentives in India provide subsidies of between 4% and 6% of production costs over a period of five years if certain requirements are met.

"The government's efforts to bring about a supply chain shift and make India a manufacturing hub with constant policy interventions in the form of PLI schemes has helped the country to attract major global players across the value chain," Priya Joseph, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, explained.

According to him, the government is striving to increase local value addition from the current 17% to 18% to 25% within the next few years.

It is also possible for Apple to rapidly develop its business in India by working with its local partner Tata Group.

As a result of opening physical stores, Apple will have a much greater presence in India. By increasing its visibility, Apple may be able to increase its market share, which stands at just 5% at the moment. (It is worth noting, however, that the iPhone is leading in the premium phone market.)

According to Counterpoint Research, the Indian market has increased steadily over the past five years, except for the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. It is estimated that the market will reach 175 million units in 2023, growing by 10%.

The market will continue to grow in the longer term due to factors such as the high installed base of feature phones, the shift to smartphones, the development of supply chains, and the emergence of newer use cases, analysts say.