Apple is taking the old saying "go big or go home" to heart when it comes to its strategy for India.
The tech giant is planning to open 500 iOS-centric retail stores in the country in a major expansion into smaller Indian towns and cities, according to a report from The Times of India. The move will represent Apple's first major push into the fast-growing Indian phone market.
Apple "is finalizing plans to become a serious player in India, which is being seen as a strategic and one of the most promising markets globally," an unnamed source told the Times.
Cupertino's products are already popular in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Chennai. Now the company is planning to push into smaller towns and cities like Amritsar, Pathankot, Moga, Coimbatore, Trichy, Nagpur, and Nasik.
At this point, the India push is not set in stone, however. Apple has "tentatively" approved the expansion, and is expected to give the final go-ahead "very soon," the report noted. Apple is said to be mulling a franchise model that may be overseen by Redington, one of its two distributors in the country.
"These new stores will be smaller in size and could range from 300 to 600 square feet against over 2,000-square-foot size of existing stores in bigger cities," the newspaper's source said.
For its fiscal year ending in September 2014, Apple sold around 1 million iPhones in India. The company expects to top 3 million units sold this year, the Times reported. Apple has had a presence in India since 2011, currently operating through distributors Redington and Ingram, who supply the company's gadgets to regional sellers.
For more, check out our slideshow above of 7 Apple Stores to Visit Before You Die.