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Apple reportedly making a push in Indian retail stores

The iPhone maker is said to be planning to set up "stores within stores" in smaller cities in India, according to the Economic Times.

Richard Nieva Former senior reporter
Richard Nieva was a senior reporter for CNET News, focusing on Google and Yahoo. He previously worked for PandoDaily and Fortune Magazine, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, on CNNMoney.com and on CJR.org.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook wants to keep up the momentum. A report says Apple would like to set up "stores within stores" at existing retailers in India. James Martin/CNET
Long a neglected market for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company, Apple is said to be ramping up efforts to get iPhones and iPads into the hands of consumers in India.

Two top Apple executives in India met Monday with CEOs and top executives of major retailers in the country to discuss a new strategy and marketing vision, according to the Economic Times. The idea is to set up "stores within stores" in the "top 50 tier II and III markets," expanding its presence outside large metropolitan areas and into smaller markets. According to the report, the executives said that Apple wants to build 100 "standalone" stores under the franchise model in these markets.

The word "standalone" is a bit confusing in this context, though that presumably refers to these cornered-off stores within stores. To be clear, Apple doesn't have official physical retail stores in India at the moment.

People at the meeting, according to the report, said the Apple executives leading the charge are Maneesh Dhir, the company's India country head, and telecom business chief Sanjay Kaul. Apple faces specific challenges in tackling the Indian market, the report says. For example, handsets aren't subsidized by contracts there, so less-expensive phones perform better in sales.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but we'll update this post if we learn more.