Apple on Thursday said it set a new revenue record in India, in line with its best-ever quarterly global revenue of $102.5 billion in the September quarter. Apple thus registered the 14th quarter in a row in which it sold more iPhones in India than ever before – indicating steady growth in line with new retail stores and expanding production plans in India.
Demand for the iPhone 17 was a key driver of Apple’s record results, CEO Tim Cook said, adding that the company expects the momentum to continue in the December quarter.
“We grew in the vast majority of the markets we track, and in dozens of markets we posted record September quarter revenue… We also set a record September quarter revenue in emerging markets and an all-time revenue record in India,” Cook said during Apple’s analyst call after the earnings call.
Cook also highlighted that part of the record quarter stemmed from two new Apple retail stores in India that opened earlier this year.
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Demand exceeds supply
As Mint reported on October 29, the iPhone 17 has become Apple’s best-selling new smartphone ever since its launch on September 19 – in India and globally. However, Cook admitted that supply is struggling to keep up with demand.
“iPhone 17 sales are tight on both sides of the ledger,” Cook said, suggesting that both the entry-level and Pro models are facing shortages worldwide.
This is in line with feedback from Indian retailers, who told Mint last month that demand for the iPhone 17 series far outstrips supply. A person familiar with the matter said at the time that Apple’s shipments to India were “on track” and there were no supply chain bottlenecks at the time.
India is facing a smartphone slump
Apple’s iPhone launch every year serves as a barometer for the global smartphone market — and it’s an outlier in India. Over the past five years, while overall smartphone sales in India have remained below 2021 highs, Apple’s growth has accelerated exponentially.
Data from market tracker IDC India projects that Apple is on track to sell 15.5 million iPhones in India in 2025, up nearly 25% year-on-year. In contrast, total smartphone shipments in India are expected to fall 4% over the five years to 155 million units by December.
Apple’s success stands out not only through its growth rate, but also through its premium pricing – its iPhones sell for around three times the average price of a smartphone in India.
Signs of a strong September quarter were visible early on. Mint reported that pre-orders for the iPhone 17 are up 10% year-over-year, and sales are estimated to be up nearly 20% in the first two weeks.
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A report from Bernstein on October 28 confirmed this, saying that sales of the iPhone 17 were up 15% from last year, making it the best-selling new iPhone in its first month ever.
“Last year, the iPhone 16 saw mid-single digit growth over the iPhone 15. This year, the iPhone 17 grew by 18% year-on-year, which shows Apple’s growing revenue from India,” said Tarun Pathak, Partner and Director, Counterpoint.
“Growth is driven by a strong feature set and easy affordability plans, even in Tier III markets.”
Demand for Apple’s iPhones in India is being driven by a surge in sales of older devices in non-metro markets and rising demand for the latest generation iPhone in metro markets, Mint analysts said earlier this week.
Breakthrough financial year
The Cupertino giant, which follows the October-September financial cycle, said fiscal 25 was its best year ever, with revenues reaching $416 billion. On October 28, Apple’s market capitalization surpassed $4 trillion, making it the third company after Nvidia and Microsoft to reach the milestone.
Even as Apple achieved record demand, Cook called supply constraints for many iPhone 17 models a short-term problem.
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“We’re seeing supply constraints today in many iPhone 17 modes. We’re not predicting when demand will balance out between supply. We’re working very hard to get there because we want to get as many of these products to customers as possible — but we’re not in a position to predict (when that will normalize) today,” he said.
Apple CFO Kevan Parekh added that U.S. trade tariffs under President Donald Trump had a $1.4 billion impact on Apple’s September quarter — up from $1.1 billion in the previous quarter. Since April, the tariffs have cost Apple a total of over $2 billion.
Apple shares reacted favorably to its September quarter earnings, rising 2.2% in after-hours trading at the time of publication.
