Apple has started hiring retail store workers in India and has released plans to fill many more positions as it prepares to open its first flagship locations in the world’s second-largest smartphone market this quarter.
On Friday, Apple’s careers page listed openings for 12 different roles it’s looking to fill in “various locations in India,” including technical specialist, business expert, senior manager, store manager and… “genius”.
Many job descriptions refer directly to flagship retail operations. “The Apple Store is a one-of-a-kind retail environment focused solely on delivering exceptional customer experiences,” one said.
The 12 listings involve hundreds of job postings, as a typical Apple Store has at least 100 employees and flagship locations can have up to 1,000 employees.
Some of the features on Apple’s website, such as “market leader”, describing management teams “in Apple Stores”, imply that more locations are being worked on beyond the widely advertised location. of 22,000 square feet which is set to open in Mumbai as early as March.
Separately, at least five employees from Mumbai and New Delhi announced on LinkedIn that they had been hired for the yet to be announced stores. One announced she had been named a “Lead Genius” – a customer-facing technical support role – while another said she had been named a senior manager. Apple’s head of recruitment in India, Renu Sevanthi, “celebrated” several of the announcements on the social networking site.
Apple, which did not immediately comment, did not confirm plans to open its first stores in the country. But in February 2020, CEO Tim Cook told investors that the Apple Store would expand to India the following year, saying he was not content to leave retail sales to franchise partners. “I don’t want someone else running the brand for us,” Cook said at the 2020 annual meeting of shareholders.
Later that year, Apple launched its online store for India, greeting online shoppers with “Namaste”, but physical stores did not emerge.
The expansion would be important for Apple as it attempts to diversify manufacturing away from it China and boost its recent production operations in India. Supply chain experts say Apple has a “silicon to storefront” ambition to control all aspects of the customer experience – from Apple-designed chips in its phones to Apple Store employees.
“The stars are finally aligning for Apple in India,” said Neil Shah, analyst at Counterpoint, a market intelligence group.
Cook personally visited and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, pushing to open an Apple Store in the country. But protectionist rules require foreign companies selling goods directly to consumers to source 30% of the components locally.
However, the rules have been relaxed in recent years, and in 2017 Apple suppliers started assembling iPhones in India. This allowed him to avoid customs duties of 22%, which helped boost sales. New Delhi has since prompted smartphone makers to shift more production to the country, leading to major investments from Taiwanese suppliers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron.
India’s Tata Group, which makes iPhone cases in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, plans to scale up operations to supply a wider range of components to Apple, according to three people familiar with its operations. projects, on which the Indian industry group has not commented.
Last year, around 200 million smartphones were manufactured in India, ten times the number assembled in 2014, according to Counterpoint. And although Apple’s market share in India is only 5%, it is growing rapidly and dominates the premium segment with two-fifths of all sales.
“Since the pandemic, the number of iPhones sold in India has almost doubled,” Shah said. This boosts sales of Mac, Apple Watch and iPad. There is a positive network effect. Apple therefore notices this rapidly growing market, and now is the right time to enter, invest.
Shah said that by the end of this year, Apple India should have a four-tier sales strategy in place.
This would include e-commerce sales, at least two flagship stores in its wealthiest cities, 10 or more other stores in potential partnership with Tata, in tier one and tier two cities, as well as growing “store in one store” with big-box retailers across the country.
Additional reporting by John Reed in New Delhi
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