New Delhi: Reliance Retail will shut 16 of its 20 exclusive Apple iStores as several of them don't comply with the global store design specified by the maker of iPhones and iPads.
Instead Reliance will convert them into its new format, Digital Xpress (outlets) since the locations are prime.
Reliance Retail, part of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, used to run the largest chain of Apple Premium Reseller stores in India, offering the complete range of Macs, iPads, iPhones and iPods along with software and accessories.
The company will keep just four iStores open -- one each in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata.
Reports suggest that Cupertino-based Apple was unhappy with the pace of expansion in the country.
Reliance has more than 30 Digital Xpress stores, apart from 154 Reliance Digital stores that sell the entire range of electronics goods.
