Apple to increase sales in India with distributor Brightstar

India being a prospect market for iPhones and iPads, Apple has planned to increase its sales in India from 1 million to as many as 7 million by 2018. To achieve the target and sell its devices, Apple has roped in distributor giant Brightstar.

Brightstar is headquartered in the US and is controlled by Softbank. It distributes mobile phones and other devices to more than 200 carriers in over 50 countries and has revenues of around $11 billion. Recently, it has bought a 51% stake in (Bharti Enterprises chairman) Sunil Mittal’s Beetle Teletech.

Currently Redington and Ingram are the two main distributors of Apple in India, who are supplying the products to regional distributors, multi-product trade channels and Apple Premium Re-seller stores and Apple Authorized Reseller outlets. Redington is one of the biggest partners for Apple in India and is believed to account for nearly 70% of its sales.

According to sources, Brightstar has decided to adopt an aggressive stance for its India foray and has managed to poach Redington’s Puneet Narang who is in charge of the Apple business unit, heads Redington’s iComm Strategic Business Unit, will lead the charge for the Brightstar business.

Brightstar has been working on the India plan for the past 6 months and is likely to get charge of the northern India business to begin with. Apple has decided to get serious about the India business and is therefore re-aligning its entire distribution set-up in the country.

Interestingly, Apple has also decided to directly fund some of the above-the-line (ATL) advertising campaigns in India, something that is a rarity and is done only in big markets like the US and UK. The company has decided to make its own investments in direct marketing and this will be in addition to what its distributors are spending.

Apple also plans to open 500 ‘iOS’ stores in India and the expansion will include entry into smaller towns and cities. For the new and small cities, Apple is planning smaller stores which can range between 300-600 sq ft against the over 2,000 sq ft size of existing stores in bigger cities. A franchise model is likely to be adopted for this and could be spearheaded by Redington and now Brightstar.- See more at: http://www.varindia.com/apple-to-increase-sales-in-india-with-distributor-brightstar/#sthash.nTuHEeGm.dpuf