NEW DELHI: Apple plans to set up up to three brick-and-mortar outlets in India besides an online store as the iPhone maker looks to further cement its position in one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.
According to sources privy to the development, Apple has conveyed to the government its plans to set up physical as well as an online store, in line with its ‘global experience’ centres for Apple-branded products.
The move comes at a time when global smartphone manufacturers have reiterated their commitment to the Indian market and are looking to significantly ramp up their manufacturing capabilities in the country.
Apple, which works with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in India, currently makes iPhone 6S and 7 here. One of the sources said Apple is looking at assembling more models in the country. Apple did not respond to a query on this issue.
In a major push to single-brand retail, the government last week had relaxed FDI norms, offering players more flexibility on local sourcing norms. It also did away a provision that required companies to mandatorily set up a brick-and-mortar store before getting into online retail trading.
Following the announcement, Apple had said it is keen on offering online and in-store experiences to Indian users that are at par with its global standards and aims to open its maiden retail store in India.
While the company has remained mum on the locations of its stores, reports suggest that Mumbai could become home to India’s maiden Apple retail store.
India is looking to galvanise smartphone manufacturing and position itself as a global hub, dishing out incentives to sweeten the deal for international brands.
Amid growing concerns around US-China trade war, India now has an opportunity to woo companies that had so far concentrated their manufacturing operations in China.
The government has been engaged in a dialogue with key players to understand their concerns and requirements.
A recent report by industry body IAMAI had pointed out that India’s mobile manufacturing lacks scale and depth despite its ambition to become global production hub, and the country needs to “think big” by manufacturing at scale, producing high-end phones, and incentivising exports.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report had also noted that the global handsets market is worth about USD 467 billion (about Rs 32 lakh crore), and this demand is being met almost entirely by China, Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan.
The same report stated that in 2018-19, India exported mobile handsets worth USD 1.4 billion compared to USD 2.7 billion in 2012-13.
The production of mobile handsets had reached 225 million units in 2017-18 and India has the potential to manufacture one billion handsets annually, it had said. (agencies)
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BIZ-SBICARD-RUPAY
SBI Card to soon issue Rupay credit cards: CEO Prasad
NEW DELHI, Sept 1:
SBI Card will soon launch RuPay credit cards, a development which will give a boost to the homegrown payment network in the fast growing segment.
Presently, the credit card segment is dominated by the US-based payment gateways like Visa and Mastercard.
RuPay is the first-of-its-kind domestic debit and credit card payment network of India developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems.
“We will be (launching RuPay based credit card) soon. There is a last agreement that is left out at the end of NPCI level. I think NPCI is going to send it any day and we will be launching some products,” SBI Card MD and CEO Hardayal Prasad said in an interview.
Expressing confidence that RuPay credit card will be launched in this fiscal only, Prasad said, “It’s just a matter of time. The Rupay will become very popular and will be used in India aggressively. I have no doubts on it”.
He said that there is a big “nationalistic segment” which is insisting on RuPay cards. About one-third of the cards being issued by India’s largest lender State Bank of India are RuPay cards, he said.
“There are class of customers who want RuPay card. There are those nationalistic people who say ‘give us only Rupay cards’. So I am very upbeat,” he said.
The company may issue both RuPay as well as Visa/Mastercard to its customers, specially who travel abroad, Prasad said.
As of now, RuPay cards are accepted only in few countries, including Singapore and Bhutan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the card in UAE.
RuPay has also tied-up with international players like Discover, Japan Credit Bureau and China Union Pay to enhance its international acceptance.
Prasad further said that SBI Card has rolled out its chatbot ‘ILA’ (Interactive Live Assistant) on its mobile app to further enhance consumer experience.
ILA has 40 plus innovative features making SBI Card one of the first in the industry to offer a complete suite of self-service functionalities increasing convenience for the customers, he said.
“Since its release, SBI Card’s chatbot has successfully resolved over 14 million queries with over 97 per cent accuracy,” he added.
SBI Card had 90 lakh customers at end-July with a market share of 17.9 per cent.
According to Prasad, the company has been adding 3 lakh cards per month since December 2018. (agencies)
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