Apple Inc. sales in India during the last financial year hit an all-time high of almost $9 billion, driven by healthy demand for its top-line products as the company increases the number of retail stores in the world's largest country.
Revenue rose about 13% during the 12 months through March from $8 billion a year earlier, ET reported quoting a source familiar with the situation. iPhones accounted for most of the sales, with MacBook laptop demand also skyrocketing.
The substantial boost—long previously unreported—is a welcome plus for Cupertino, California-based technology behemoth Apple at a time when mobile device sales worldwide are leveling off. Although India still represents only a relatively small percentage of Apple's total revenue, the company is spending big in what it foresees as eventually becoming a huge marketplace in the future.
This expansion is particularly significant in light of the turbulence in China, Apple's biggest international market, where changing consumer patterns and geopolitical tensions have impacted performance. Revenue from China expanded 4.4% in the June quarter—its first gain in two years—but Apple has ceded market share to domestic rivals like Xiaomi Corp.
Apple did not comment.
As part of its Indian retail growth, Apple this week opened two new stores in Bangalore and Pune. Apple is also preparing to open more stores in Noida, near Delhi, and in Mumbai in early next year.
Apple rearranged its global operations in 2023 by making India a standalone sales region to take advantage of the nation's increasing incomes and expanding middle class. iPhones, viewed by Indian shoppers as a status symbol, have about 7% of the domestic smartphone market now comprised of iPhones, Tarun Pathak of Counterpoint Research said.
Local sourcing regulations had earlier held up Apple's physical store launches in India. Once regulations relaxed, Apple opened its online store in 2020, followed by the launch of the first two physical stores in Mumbai and New Delhi in 2023, which were opened by CEO Tim Cook. Since then, the company has increased its retail chain and included additional premium resellers.
High taxes drive iPhones to a premium price in India—the base model iPhone 16 costs 79,900 rupees ($906.39), versus $799 in the US. Apple responded by offering student discounts, trade-ins, and collaborations with banks on credit card rebates, which pushed sales. Cook has consistently referred to India as one of Apple's most rapidly expanding markets.
India has also come to be at the heart of Apple's production plan. As many as one out of every five iPhones are made in India, and Cook aims to make India a key source for phones that are to be sold in the US. Apple is boosting output at five factories, including two recently started facilities, in an attempt to diminish dependence on China, Bloomberg News reported previously.
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