Apple has ignored Indian market for long. Once, even the CEO Tim Cook said that India is one of their major targets, however they are not currently looking to enter India anytime soon. Samsung has used this opportunity very well in India and has expanded their retail presence through out the country. Not to forget, all their high end smartphones like the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note were launched in India either on the same day as international launch or immediately after that. If you live in India, you must’ve also seen the growing number of Samsung stores through out the country. And they’ve also cannibalised Nokia sales turning many Nokia stores to Samsung stores. Apple still continued to focus on other markets ignoring the huge potential they had in the Indian market. Its going to be really tough for Apple to compete against Samsung now. But Apple has a huge fan base in India which is a good thing for Apple and this should help them. It might take some time for Apple to really show a good market share in India mostly because they’re products are costly compared to competitors.
Apple is already in talks with over 20 major retailers in India for opening up 100 stores within 50 towns initially. Apple targets to have 200 stores to be set up 2015. These stores will be exclusively by Apple than the existing reseller outlets. This will also enable users to buy iPhone and iPads directly from Apple along with other products. Apple is hoping for a 1 billion turnover from India this year. Too late for that ? May be, may be not. Either way, its great news for Apple fans across India. They won’t have to pay inflated prices for Apple products again. And most of all, products should be available quickly.