Tim Cook (center) and Deirdre O’Brien (right) at the Apple Saket opening. Image Credit: Apple
Apple is planning to add a third official Apple Store to its roster in India, cementing the country’s status as important for the growth of its iPhone sales and manufacturing.
There are currently two Apple Stores in India, with Apple Saket in New Delhi and Apple BKC in Mumbai serving customers in the region. As always, Apple has intentions to expand its presence in India, with its third potentially opening in Bengaluru.
According to lease documents seen by Business Standard, Apple has leased an 8,000 square foot space in Bengaluru’s Phoenix Mall of Asia. This is less than half the space of the 20,800 square foot BKC store, but will be about the same size as the Saket location.
The location itself will be units F-39 to F-42, on the first floor of the mall.
Apple will be paying an annual rent of 2.09 crore ($244,000) for the location, the documents state, with rent increasing by 15% every three years. However, Apple will also have to pay the landlord a 2% cut of store revenue for the first three years, rising to 2.5% after that, up to a maximum of twice the value of the main rent itself.
The lease period started on November 8, 2024, with rent payable from August 8, 2025.
Apple has set up a zone of exclusivity in the mall, with it providing a list of competing companies to the mall’s ownership, Sparkle One Mall Developers. The mall cannot lease out any space to companies on the list.
India importance
An increase in Apple Stores is an indicator that Apple is being serious about its intentions with the country. As the next major growth center for iPhone sales, it is a huge potential market for Apple to tap.
More importantly, India is key to Apple’s plan to reduce its reliance on China for production needs. After over a decade of China-centric manufacturing, it has slowly spread out to other countries, with India becoming a viable second production center.
This has so far involved Apple and its supply chain partners investing in new factories and production lines, and convincing authorities to allow construction of facilities to take place.
The plan has been a success for Apple so far, as the intention was to minimize the impact of global events or international politics from interfering with its supply chain.
This is keenly demonstrated by the ongoing U.S.-China tariff affair, which briefly saw Apple face the prospect of dealing with massive tariffs on iPhone imports from China. In reality, Apple shifted to ensure that as many iPhones were sourced from India as possible.
Indeed, in the second quarter of 2025, CEO Tim Cook said that half of the iPhones sold in the United States came from India production lines. Apple’s imports from India also doubled during April, when the tariff trouble began.
Apple has reportedly signalled an intention for nearly every iPhone 18 sold in the US to come from India.
With the plan to shift some manufacturing out of China and into India shown to be extremely effective, it opens the door to Apple doubling down on the idea. With recent investments in production, India will become an even more important country for Apple’s manufacturing efforts.
