NEW DELHI
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Apple on Thursday mentioned it set an all-time new income report in India, according to its finest quarterly worldwide gross sales to this point of $102.5 billion within the September quarter. With this, Apple registered a 14th consecutive quarter during which it bought extra iPhones in India than earlier than—marking a gradual rise according to new stores and growth of producing plans in India.
Demand for the iPhone 17 was a key driver of Apple’s report outcomes, chief govt Tim Cook dinner mentioned, including that the corporate expects the momentum to proceed into the December quarter.
“We grew within the overwhelming majority of markets we observe and had September quarter income information in dozens of markets… We additionally set a September quarter income report in rising markets, and an all-time income report in India,” Cook dinner mentioned throughout Apple’s post-earnings analyst name.
Cook dinner additionally highlighted that a part of the report quarter stemmed from Apple’s two new stores in India, opened earlier this 12 months.
Demand surpasses provide
As Mint reported on 29 October, the iPhone 17 has develop into Apple’s most-sold new smartphone ever—in India and globally—since its 19 September launch. Nonetheless, Cook dinner admitted that offer was struggling to maintain up with demand.
“Gross sales of the iPhone 17 are strained on each side of the ledger,” Cook dinner mentioned, hinting that each the entry-level and Professional fashions face shortages worldwide.
This aligns with suggestions from Indian retailers, who informed Mint final month that demand for the iPhone 17 collection far outpaced provides. An individual conscious of the matter had mentioned then that Apple’s shipments to India had been “on observe” and no provide chain bottlenecks had emerged on the time.
India bucks the smartphone droop
Yearly, Apple’s iPhone launch serves as a barometer for the worldwide smartphone market—and an outlier in India. Over the previous 5 years, whereas general smartphone gross sales in India have remained beneath 2021 peaks, Apple’s progress has accelerated exponentially.
Information from market tracker IDC India initiatives that Apple is on observe to promote 15.5 million iPhones in India in 2025, up almost 25% year-on-year. Against this, general smartphone shipments in India are anticipated to say no 4% over 5 years to 155 million items by December.
Apple’s success stands out not just for its progress fee but in addition for its premium pricing—its iPhones promote at roughly 3 times the typical worth of a smartphone in India.
Indicators of a powerful September quarter had been seen early on. Mint had reported that iPhone 17 preorders had been up 10% year-on-year, and the primary two weeks of gross sales had been projected to rise almost 20%.
A 28 October be aware by Bernstein confirmed this, saying iPhone 17 gross sales had been 15% increased than final 12 months, making it the most-sold new iPhone in its first month ever.
“Final 12 months, the iPhone 16 noticed mid-single-digit progress over the iPhone 15. This 12 months, the iPhone 17 grew 18% year-on-year—displaying rising income for Apple from India,” mentioned Tarun Pathak, accomplice and director at Counterpoint.
“The surge is pushed by a powerful function set and simple affordability plans, even throughout tier-III markets.”
Apple’s India demand for iPhones is being pushed by a surge in gross sales in markets past metro cities for older gadgets, and a rising drive for the most recent technology iPhone in metro markets, analysts informed Mint earlier this week.
A landmark monetary 12 months
The Cupertino large, which follows an October–September monetary cycle, mentioned FY25 was its finest 12 months ever, with income touching $416 billion. On 28 October, Apple’s market capitalization crossed $4 trillion, making it the third firm after Nvidia and Microsoft to achieve that milestone.
At the same time as Apple rode report demand, Cook dinner flagged provide constraints throughout many iPhone 17 fashions as a near-term concern.
“We’re at the moment seeing provide constraints throughout many iPhone 17 modes. We’re not predicting when the supply-demand will stability. We’re working very laborious to realize that, as we need to get as many of those merchandise out to prospects as doable—however at the moment we’re not able to foretell (when it’s going to normalize),” he mentioned.
Apple’s chief monetary officer Kevan Parekh added that US commerce tariffs underneath President Donald Trump had a $1.4 billion affect on Apple’s September quarter—up from $1.1 billion the earlier quarter. Since April, tariffs have value Apple over $2 billion in whole.
Apple shares reacted favourably to its September quarter earnings, rising 2.2% in after-market hours on the time of publishing.
