19 years after opening its first store at the erstwhile Prestige Forum Mall, Koramangala, Bangalore, leading Apple Premium Reseller Imagine has opened its flagship store at the now rechristened “Nexus Koramangala.” Imagine has been a trade partner with Apple Inc. for over 3 decades and has been among the first retail partners for Apple in India.
Nexus Malls is the Indian retail portfolio of the world’s leading investment firm, The Blackstone Group.
The 2,500 sft store will offer a wide array of Apple products including the iconic iPhone, the iPad, iMac and MacBooks along with the Apple smartwatches. Imagine is also an authorised reseller of brands like Bose and Marshall as well as several top accessories brand.
Rajesh Narang, CEO & Founder of Ample Technologies said, “We have endeavoured to serve customers with a smile and help them choose the right Apple products that can help them do more and live better. The joy and euphoria of a delighted customer are unparalleled. Our new store at this historic location helps us go further and mesmerize our customers.” Ample is the parent company that runs the Imagine retail business along with the enterprise vertical for Apple.
Ample’s revenues for FY 22-23 was >Rs. 1,400 Cr, accruing from 90 retail stores and 1,500 enterprise customers. The company employs 1,000+ employees in its retail vertical as well as the B2B vertical.
A limited period exclusive discount of “FLAT 20% on iPhone 14” & “15% discount on Macbook Air M2” is being offered at the store.
Moreover, attendees can even look forward to exciting activities such as an interaction with tech guru Rajiv Makhni, a stand-up comedy act by Abish Mathew, engaging contests, VoxPop engagements, surprises, and giveaways along with a Dollu Kunitha performance at the store over the weekend.
Apple India opened two exclusive stores in India at Mumbai and Delhi in April 2023. Both stores are said to be averaging an annual revenue of over Rs. 250 Cr, the highest ever for a standalone electronics retail store anywhere in India. The company plans to open 3 more stores in Mumbai and NCR during the next 3 years. Top metro cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai do not seem to be in its future roadmap.
While Apple’s company-operated stores would largely be experience centres, bringing together the tech behemoth’s global might under one roof, the Apple Premium Reseller stores such as the ones operated by Imagine and its peers across India, will act as neigborhood touch points for Apple customers and fans to interact, engage and learn more about the newest technologies offered by the brand.
Did you know fact: As of June 2023 Apple’s market-cap is USD 2.836 Trillion, making it the most valued company in the world!
For the FY 2022-23, Apple India’s revenue from operations was Rs. 33,313 Cr (~USD 4 Bn) with a net profit of Rs. 1,263 Cr (USD 150 mn). Globally, Apple Inc. 2022 full year revenue was USD 394 Bn, it’s highest ever, on the back of a massive recovery after the pandemic rout since 2020. The company had a net profit of USD 99 Bn globally for 2022.
In a huge contrast, Apple China reported USD 74 Bn in revenues for the year 2022 with a net profit of USD 31 Bn, according to data from S&P Global. Apple operates 45 stores directly in China along with third party sellers & resellers, offline and online.
Apple has benefitted in China historically with high sales volumes, when compared to India, though the volume of population and the key demographics of the consuming class is almost similar. Keep in mind too, that China is a pioneer in the smartphone revolution unlike India which does not have a single “Created in India” smartphone brand.
There is no question that Apple would open beyond a handful of stores in India, as these will not have the capacity to generate record revenues, like in China. Being a value-conscious market, India “buys” more Apple iPhones when they are on offer unlike their Chinese counterparts who stand in long queues overnight to lay their hands on new launches. From a product portfolio, China outsells India by a huge margin in the volume of sales of iPads and MacBooks.
Needless to say, Apple Premium Resellers will continue to lead the might of retailing Apple products in India. Those like Imagine are poised to succeed in the long run, though they may have to give up premium spaces near the upcoming Apple company stores.
It must be noted that Imagine had to vacate its store at Select Citywalk Mall, New Delhi after Apple opened its flagship store.
