Apple Sets Quarterly Revenue Record in India, Sees Major Growth Opportunity Ahead

NEW DELHI — Apple posted a quarterly revenue record in India during the October–December period, underscoring the country’s growing importance as both a manufacturing hub and a key consumer market, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said.

Speaking during the company’s earnings call late Thursday U.S. time, Cook said Apple recorded all-time revenue highs in the December quarter across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and the rest of Asia-Pacific, while continuing to gain momentum in emerging markets, including India.

“We continued to gain momentum in emerging markets, which includes India, where we saw strong double-digit revenue growth,” Cook said.

He highlighted Apple’s expanding retail presence in the country, noting that the company achieved its best-ever quarterly results in retail globally and opened its fifth store in India in December. Cook said Apple also plans to open another store in Mumbai soon.

Responding to an analyst’s question, Cook confirmed that Apple set a quarterly revenue record in India during the December quarter.

“To go a little further down, we set quarterly revenue records on iPhone and Mac and iPad, and an all-time revenue record on Services. So it was a terrific quarter in India,” he said. “We really like what we see there. It’s the second-largest smartphone market in the world and the fourth largest PC market.”

Cook said Apple still has relatively modest market share in India despite strong growth, calling it a major opportunity for the company.

“We still have, despite very nice growth history, modest share there, and so we think there’s a huge opportunity for us there, and we could not be more excited about it,” he said.

He also noted that a large proportion of customers in India buying iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch are first-time buyers. “The majority of customers that are buying iPhone and Mac and iPad and Watch are all new to that product, and so it speaks very well to the opportunity there,” Cook said.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said iPhone revenue rose 23 percent year over year to $85.3 billion, driven by the iPhone 17 lineup.

“iPhone saw strength around the world, reaching all-time revenue records in many of the markets we track, including the U.S., Greater China, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and South Asia, as well as a December quarter record in India,” Parekh said.

Mac revenue came in at $8.4 billion, down 7 percent year over year, which Parekh attributed to a tough comparison with the launch of the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac in the year-ago quarter.

“Despite this, we continued to see growth in several emerging markets, including Brazil, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and more,” he said. Parekh added that the Mac installed base reached another all-time high, with nearly half of customers purchasing a Mac during the quarter being new to the product.

Apple’s comments come as the company continues to ramp up production and exports from India, with each quarter marking new highs in output and revenue from the market. (Source: IANS)