India to open the first Apple flagship store? It is rumored that Apple has begun to recruit relevant employees

According to related news, Apple hopes to expand in India, that is, manufacture outside China to spread risks. According to the Financial Times, Apple is hiring staff in India and plans to open its first flagship store.

Apple has reportedly started hiring retail store staff in India and plans to fill a number of other positions as it prepares to open its first flagship store in India, the world's second-largest smartphone market, in the first quarter. On Friday, Apple's job page listed 12 vacancies for different job types trying to fill "various locations within India," including technologists, business specialists, senior managers, store heads and "geniuses."

Many job descriptions relate directly to flagship retail operations. These 12 job types mean hundreds of job opportunities. A relatively standard Apple Store has at least 100 employees, and a flagship store can have up to 1,000 employees. Some functions on Apple's website, such as "market leader," describe the management team "across Apple Stores," implying that several locations are under construction beyond the 22,000-square-foot location revealed by the industry, with the earliest It will open in Mumbai in March.

In addition, at least five employees in Mumbai and New Delhi have announced that they have confirmed their employment at the Apple Store on LinkedIn. One of them announced their appointment as "Chief Genius," described as a customer-facing technical support role. While another said she had been named a senior manager. As a small detail, Renu Sevanthi, Apple's India head of recruitment, liked several announcements on social networking sites.

Apple has yet to comment on whether it will open its first store in India. But in February 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that the Apple Store would expand to India the following year, saying he wasn't content to leave retail sales to franchise partners.

The report commented that this expansion is very important for Apple as it tries to diversify its manufacturing outside of China and power Apple's emerging production operations in India. Supply chain experts say Apple wants to control every aspect of the customer experience, and the way it does that is from the chips it designs in phones to the retail clerks in Apple stores.

The Indian industry group has yet to comment on reports that India's Tata, which makes iPhone casings in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, plans to expand its business to supply Apple with a wider range of components.

While Apple's market share in India is only 5%, it is growing fast and leads the premium segment with 40% of sales.