[Laurenz Heymann/Unsplash]
AppleInsider may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on our site.
The first flagship Apple Store in India will be opening in Mumbai in April, a report claims, with a second outlet in New Delhi set to arrive soon after.
Apple is in the middle of preparing its first-party stores in India for launch, and the fruits of that labor could surface soon. After hiring for the physical retail locations since the start of 2023, it seems that April will see at least one of the stores opening to the public.
Industry executives aware of Apple's plans speaking to Economic Times say that the flagship Mumbai store will open up in April. A second store in New Delhi will also open, sometime between April and June.
It is claimed by one executive that the fitouts for both stores are finished. "In fact, the fitout was completed fore the Delhi store ahead of the Mumbai one," they claim, but as the Mumbai store will be the flagship outlet for India, it will open first.
Apple has yet to officially set an opening date for either store, however it appears that operations at each location are being tested by the company.
The two stores will be significant in size, with the Mumbai outlet set to occupy over 22,000 square feet in the Jio World Drive Mall. The Delhi store will be in Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, and is over 10,000 square foot in size.
It is currently anticipated that SVP of Retail and People Deirdre O'Brien will be in attendance at the launches, though it is unclear if CEO Tim Cook will also make an appearance.
The stores will be a milestone for Apple, which has tried hard to open the outlets for years. India has been served by an online Apple Store since 2020, but physical retail has been handled by a network of authorized partner stores, due to the country's rules on ownership and manufacturing.
With an expansion of manufacturing in the region, Apple has become eligible to open its storefronts.
