Apple grows India sales 13% to $9 billion

Apple made almost $9 billion from India in the last fiscal year, setting a new personal record. The money came mostly from iPhones, with MacBooks also pulling in solid numbers.

Compared to the $8 billion it made the year before, that’s a 13% rise in sales over 12 months, ending in March.

That growth hasn’t been seen in other countries where Apple sells devices. Most of the world is hitting a slowdown in smartphone demand, but India’s still moving.

Even though India is just a small part of the company’s global business, Apple is betting big on it. They’re dumping resources into the region, expecting it to be a major piece of the puzzle going forward.

Apple opens more stores and changes its management focus

Apple opened two new physical stores this week in Bangalore and Pune, adding to its slow but steady retail build-out. It’s not stopping there.

There are already plans to open another store in Noida, right outside Delhi, and one more in Mumbai sometime early next year. These are all part of the same strategy, take more control over its product ecosystem and connect directly with local customers.

Back in 2023, Apple reorganized how it runs its global sales ops. India got pulled out and became its own region. That move shows how serious they are about making this market a priority.

The country has a rising middle class, more people getting into premium phones, and higher income levels than before. According to Tarun Pathak from Counterpoint Research, iPhones now make up around 7% of all smartphones in India.

Apple couldn’t set up shop physically for a long time because of strict local sourcing laws. The government used to require companies to make a certain percentage of their goods locally before opening stores.

Once that policy got looser, Apple jumped in. The online store went live in 2020, and by 2023, Tim Cook was in India cutting ribbons for the first two brick-and-mortar stores, one in Mumbai, the other in New Delhi.

India becomes a big part of Apple’s supply chain

India isn’t just where Apple wants to sell more stuff, it’s also where more of its stuff is getting made. Right now, one in every five iPhones is manufactured in India.

The plan is to increase that even more and use the country as a major base to ship products to the US. There are currently five factories in India working on iPhone production, including two new ones. This change is part of the effort to rely less on China, especially as tension keeps building in that region.

Even with all this progress, prices in India are still steep. Taxes jack up the cost of entry-level iPhones. For example, the iPhone 16 base model goes for 79,900 rupees, which is about $906. That’s higher than the $799 price tag in the US for the same device.

Apple is trying to solve that problem through other means. They’re giving student discounts, offering trade-ins for older phones, and partnering with banks to give credit card cashback deals.

All of that has pushed more people to buy. Cook has made it clear multiple times that India is one of Apple’s fastest-growing markets.

The fact that the company has been able to expand its retail presence and get more phones into Indian hands proves that. It’s not just about selling phones, it’s about making India part of the long game, both as a customer base and as a factory floor.

China, Apple’s largest international market, is becoming less predictable. Sales there went up 4.4% in the June quarter, but that was the first time in two years.

Plus, Apple’s losing ground to local competitors like Xiaomi. India, on the other hand, still has space to grow. That contrast is part of why Apple is turning its eyes south and not looking back.

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