Apple is continuing to expand its presence in the Indian market with plans to open a third store at Phoenix Mall of Asia shopping mall in Bengaluru.
This move underlines Apple's long-term commitment to the world's second most populous market, even as the economic relationship between the group and India is raising tensions with President Donald Trump.
The new store in Bengaluru will be on the first floor of Phoenix Mall of Asia in the Hebal region, with an area equivalent to the Apple store in New Delhi, but significantly smaller than the flagship store in Mumbai.
Apple's premises rental contract here lasts 10 years and has a revenue sharing clause - a popular form at large shopping malls. In the first 3 years, Apple will pay 2% of its revenue to premises owners, and this rate will increase to 2.5% from the 4th year.
This retail expansion is part of Apple's overall strategy in India. CEO Tim Cook recently confirmed plans to open four new stores in the country, including locations in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. Apple's first two stores in India opened in 2023, in Mumbai and Delhi, respectively.
Apple's increasing presence in India takes place in the context of escalating trade tensions between the US and China. In the announcement of financial results in the second quarter of 2025, Tim Cook revealed to analysts that in the second quarter, most iPhones sold in the US will have originated from India, while most iPads, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods sold in the US will be manufactured in Vietnam. China is still a place to produce most of the products for the US market.
However, President Trump has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on iPhone models that are not manufactured in the US, in order to put pressure on Apple to return to domestic production. While it is unclear how this threat will impact Apple's strategy in India, the signing of a third-party store lease contract along with plans to open other stores shows that Apple has no intention of stopping.
