Why It Matters That Apple Is Planning to Open Stores in India
Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) plan to establish its own brick-and-mortar presence in India next year is a bigger deal than most investors may recognize. Just to head off any confusion, plenty of Apple products are already available for purchase in India -- they're just sold through partners.
Not only is the iPhone maker just starting to hit its full stride in the increasingly important market, but the market itself is also ripe for penetration. A physical store presence could provide the last nudge that the company needs.
The good news: Apple dominates India's premium smartphone market, with IDC calculating that the iPhone accounts for more than 75% of the country's premium device sales. The bad news: That premium sliver of India's mobile-phone market isn't very big. Numbers from industry analyst firm Canalys indicate that despite a 200% year-over-year increase in iPhone deliveries during the fourth quarter, the iPhone still achieved a mere 2.3% share of the country's total smartphone market. The disparity reflects the unattainably high cost of the iPhone for most of India's consumers, who on average earn just a little more than $2,000 per year.
Source Fool.com
