Tata Group to sell Apple iPhones, iPads via 100 small stores: All you need to know

Tata Group, one of India's biggest business conglomerates, is planning to open 100 stores to sell Apple products. The group is in touch with its own company Croma for this venture. The company that runs the retail store, Infinity Retail, is likely to become Apple's franchise partner.

The company is planning to open 100 small stores in malls and high streets across the country. The size of these stores is likely to be 500-600 square feet. These stores will be smaller than the normal Apple premium resellers whose store size is normally over 1,000 square foot.

The smaller stores will concentrate on selling iPhones, iPad and Apple watches whereas the bigger stores will sell Macbook computers. 

India currently has 160 premium Apple resellers, reported Economic Times.

The Tata Group is already in touch with owners of such shops. 

The group is already in talks with Apple's Taiwan supplier Wistron Corps for setting up a joint venture that will assemble Apple iPhones. If the two countries go through with the deal, Tata will become the first Indian company to manufacture iPhones. Currently Wistron and Foxconn assemble iPhones in India and Taiwan. 

The first iPhone that was manufactured in India was iPhone SE in 2017.

Now, Apple manufactures iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 in Foxconn India. It assembles iPhone SE and iPhone 12 at the Wistron factory. 

China manufactures most of the iPhones. 

Apple is reportedly planning to increase production in India.