New Delhi, Oct 4 : Driven by the positive response to its Mumbai and Delhi retail stores, Apple on Friday said it is geared up to launch more exclusive, own-branded stores in the country where the iPhone maker is witnessing a surge in domestic sales as well as export figures.

New Apple retail stores will come in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. However, no timeline has been set so far.

According to Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of Retail, the company is thrilled "to build our teams as we plan to open more stores in India, because we are inspired by the creativity and passion of our customers across this country'.

"Our stores are incredible places to experience the magic of Apple, and it's been wonderful to deepen our connection with our customers in India,' said O'Brien.

'We can't wait for them to have even more opportunities to discover and shop for our amazing products and services, and connect with our extraordinary, knowledgable team members,' she said in a statement.

The tech giant is now manufacturing the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in India, the company informed.

The India-made iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will soon be available for local customers and for export to select countries across the world.

Apple currently has its own branded retail store in Saket, Delhi, and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

The India retail expansion comes as Apple is already locally manufacturing the iPhone 16 and Pro models, and exporting them to other countries. The new Apple flagship retail stores will fuel Apple's growth in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, driven by the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, Apple reached more than $5 billion in iPhone exports from India in the April-August period this fiscal. According to industry data, this is a growth of over 50 per cent from the same period of first five months in FY24.

The iPhone exports from India surged sharply to $12.1 billion in 2023-24 from $6.27 billion in 2022-23. Overall, the company's India operations reached 23.5 billion dollars in value in the last fiscal (FY24).

The company's revenues in India are likely to grow 18 per cent (year-on-year) in 2024. Last year, Apple clocked almost 10 million iPhone sales in India, its highest ever in the country. This year, thus figure is set to grow to over 13 million units.

/IANS