The list of the resellers that Apple has, just got longer. How, you may ask? Well, Tata Group is reportedly in talks with the tech giant to open 100 exclusive stores across the length and breadth of this country. The tie-up is happening with Tata Group’s Infiniti Retail which is the company that runs Croma stores. The report comes from Economic Times.
As of now, Apple sells its products either through its own retail stores or authorized resellers. It has also been revealed that Tata has already begun talks with high streets and premium malls about the lease terms. The lease terms entail a list of certain brands and stores that cannot open around where the Apple stores open up.
This development has come up after less than two weeks after the Economic Times had reported that Tata may be one of the buyers of Wistron Corp’s only manufacturing facility in the country. The deal was said to be closing at around $605 million.
Incidentally, Tata was in talks with Wistron to set up a joint venture that will assemble iPhones in India as was reported by Bloomberg in September.
Apple and Tata both havent given any official confirmation yet.
This news comes at a very interesting time for another reason. Apple has also planned to open up its first brick and mortar store, for the first time in India. It was said to open in 2022 but was delayed and is now scheduled to open sometime between January and March 2023 in Mumbai where the company already has around 22,000 sq ft of space near BKC. The second store is expected to come up in Delhi followed by Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.