It is Apple vs Samsung store war

The war between the two smartphone makers-Apple and Samsung-is not just constrained in mobilephone world but is now emerging in store spaces also.

On one hand where Apple is planning to open swanky New York’s Fifth Avenue-type stores in India, Samsung is also revamping its existing stores and wants to re-design on the lines of 'Samsung D'Light' located in the Samsung headquarters building in Seoul.

Apple is planning to open its stores in first phase at prime locations and is scanning through locations in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Pune.

It is looking for space spanning 2,000-3,000 sqft in India, which can also house technical support staff and holding small workshops.

Samsung has also stepped up its work for re-designing its stores and wishes to set up a few smartphone stores of over 2,000-2,500 sq ft.
Samsung runs its smartphone brand stores under the franchisee model in 1000 sq ft space.

"The retail war between Apple and Samsung will further intensify, since getting prime location is a problem which both of these brands will soon realise, considering not all space owners may show interest since these are low-margin products," a CEO of a leading mall in New Delhi told ET.

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