Samsung inaugurated its biggest retail store in north India in Connaught Place, New Delhi on Saturday (January 28), within two weeks of Apple prepping to open its first flagship store in the country. The new offline store is the first one from the South Korean tech giant in north India and will house smartphones, smartwatches, TWS earbuds, accessories, tablets as well as appliances.

The push for big retail outlets by tech giants Apple and Samsung suggests that the brands are ready to compete head-on for the India smartphone market this year. Even as shipments in India declined 9 per cent YoY last year in the wake of falling demand and inflation, both Apple and Samsung have helped the premium smartphone segment hit double-digit growth in 2022, data from Counterpoint Research showed.

The new Samsung experience store spans over two floors, across 3,500 square feet of space and it will host a range of events for consumers such as Galaxy workshops, live commerce activities and cultural performances. The store also doubles up as an authorised service centre.

This is the second such retail experience store from the handset major after the Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru, which is also the largest.

“This is the largest Samsung experience store in north India offering the widest portfolio of Samsung devices. With this new store, our goal is to provide every consumer, especially Gen Z and millennials, the best of Samsung products and experiences such as ‘Connected Living’, gaming and lifestyle screens,” Sumit Walia, Senior Director, Samsung India, said in a statement.

This comes within weeks of tech giant Apple gearing up to launch its first flagship store in India, which has been delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The company is likely to inaugurate two Apple Stores in India within weeks — one each in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai and Saket in Delhi, the Indian Express reported.

Apple had also posted vacancies for hiring local talent at its retail stores in the country. The tech behemoth announced 12 job vacancies, including for business expert, technical specialist, senior manager, store leader and “genius”.