Days ahead of the widely anticipated global launch of the all-new iPhone 17 series, Apple has reached another milestone. The iPhone maker recorded over $9 billion in annual sales in India alone during the last fiscal year, according to a report by Bloomberg.
A bulk of those sales came from the company’s flagship iPhone, which accounts for 7 per cent of India’s smartphone market, according to data from Counterpoint Research. However, demand for Macbooks in India has also risen substantially, as per the report.
Apple’s revenue reportedly surged by 13 per cent in the 12 months starting March 2024 as compared to $8 billion in India sales from the year-ago period. The jump in revenue suggests that consumer demand for Apple’s flagship devices are growing even as the Cupertino-based tech giant looks to ramp up its retail footprint in India, which might shape up to be a key market for Apple in the coming years.
It also comes at a time when Apple is grappling with plateauing mobile device sales in other parts of the world, particularly in China where it has reportedly lost market share to homegrown rivals such as Xiaomi amid geopolitical uncertainty. Apple’s revenue from China increased by 4.4 per cent in the quarter ending June 2025, after a two-year slump.
Meanwhile, its revenue in India has grown 1.5 times in the last three years. India has also become central to Apple’s manufacturing push, with one in five iPhones now made in the country. The tech giant is expanding iPhone production across five factories, some of which are recently opened facilities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
It is also expected to produce all four models of the soon-to-be-launched iPhone 17 in India.
Apple’s retail strategy in India
Apple’s retail strategy is based on comprehensive customer support across touchpoints. The company launched two new stores in Bengaluru and Pune last week. Acknowledging that many Indian consumers may be encountering its products for the first time, Wendy Beckman, VP of Apple Retail, had told indianexpress.com that “a really good introduction to the ecosystem and everything with our products too.”
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The store provides hands-on experiences where “people can play and have the ability to discover and explore our products with support from the teams,” she added.
Apple launched its first online store in India in 2020 after overcoming hurdles related to local sourcing requirements. In 2023, CEO Tim Cook inaugurated the first two physical retail stores in India, one located in Mumbai and the other in New Delhi. The company is also reportedly planning to launch a new store in Noida along with a second store in Mumbai sometime next year.
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