Throughout the 2020s, India’s smartphone growth story was built on online sales, and scales. Deep discounts, flash sales, ongoing festivals throughout the year, and platform-led distribution helped brands to sell tens of millions of units a year. However, there seems to be a change. Firms are rethinking their physical retail strategies. Apple’s decision to open a sixth Indian retail store marks a clear inflection point. The store may be in Mumbai, and will be the second one in the city, within three years after it opened the first two flagship outlets in Mumbai and Delhi.
The pace is notable as Apple took more than two decades to move from third-party distribution to direct retail in India. A few days ago, the young brand, Nothing, opened its first owned-store in Bengaluru, which followed its London store, and ahead of the proposed ones in Tokyo and New York. For a brand that built early scale almost online, the move was read as a signal that India is no longer a market for quick volumes, but demands long-term presence and capital commitment.