Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is opening its first retail stores in India this week, and the tech titan’s growth in the country has caught the attention of Wedbush analysts.
In a note published Monday, the firm reiterated its ‘Outperform’ rating and $205 price target, pointing to the company’s potential in India.
“For years Apple has tangentially went after the India market with some success as India revenue is only roughly $6 billion (less than 2% of global revenues) today with minimal presence in the country,” the analysts said.
“That dynamic will be changing as Apple is now aggressively looking at India from both a production and retail expansion over the coming years that we believe will be a strategic poker move for Cupertino that could ramp annual revenue to $20 billion by 2025 in India.”
For a start, Apple has raked in nearly $6 billion of revenue in India through March. Now, retail stores are opening in Mumbai and New Dehli.
That’s a big step when it comes to battling Samsung, as well as Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Vivo, Wedbush noted.
“It all starts with a retail presence in major cities which kicks off this week and will be vital to courting more Indian consumers into the Apple ecosystem,” the analysts said. “The retail strategy will be focused on getting new customers but importantly converting Samsung/Xiaomi/vivo/OPPO customers into Apple iPhone customers over time.
“While market share in India is sub 10% today we believe Apple through its unmatched marketing and brand presence will be able to turn India into an incremental growth catalyst as the anniversary iPhone 15 hits the market in the September timeframe.”
Shares of Apple traded 0.2% lower Monday at $164.85.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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