According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, Apple recorded its strongest September quarter in India, marking a significant milestone for the technology giant's Indian operations. CEO John Ternus announced that India achieved all-time revenue records alongside the US, Europe, Greater China and the rest of Asia-Pacific, as well as in developed and emerging markets. This performance comes as Apple expands its presence in India beyond iPhone sales, with the company reporting growth across its computer and services businesses. As per The Hindu BusinessLine, the India milestone was part of a record global quarter, with Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter revenue climbing 12% year-on-year to $114.5 billion, while iPhone revenue rose 17% to $57.6 billion. However, the company faces margin pressures with gross margin falling to 47.9% from 50.1% in the previous quarter, with product gross margin dropping to 37.2% from 40.1%.
According to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone 17 was the top-shipped model in India during Q3, demonstrating strong consumer demand for Apple's latest flagship device. Apple's iPhone business recorded global revenue of $57.6 billion in the September quarter, up 17% year on year, despite supply constraints and foreign exchange headwinds. India was among the markets where Apple recorded a quarterly high for iPhone upgraders, alongside the US and mainland China. Apple CFO Kevan Parekh revealed that the iPhone active installed base reached an all-time high, with the device recording its best year for upgrades globally, including India and Japan. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the company's India performance was reflected in several indicators, including record iPhone upgraders, all-time Mac records, an all-time Services record, iPhone ranking among the top-selling models, and the launch of Apple Pay. Research Director Tarun Pathak from Counterpoint Research noted that consumer aspirations remain Apple's biggest tailwind in India, with easy financing, trade-ins, channel expansion and local manufacturing turning aspirations into actual purchases, even in a tougher smartphone market.
According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Apple reported an all-time revenue record for its Mac business in India during the September quarter, with Mac revenue globally increasing 24% year on year to $10.8 billion, despite supply constraints. The company recorded double-digit growth across developed and emerging markets, with all-time revenue records in India and Southeast Asia. Counterpoint Research confirms the MacBook Neo had a record quarter for sales in India. Apple's Services business also recorded its highest-ever revenue in India during the quarter, with globally Services revenue increasing 10% year on year to $31.6 billion, setting an all-time record despite over 1.5 points of sequential FX headwinds. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the launch of Apple Pay with Axis Bank was another notable development for India, as Apple continues to extend its ecosystem beyond hardware. The company set all-time revenue records in the majority of markets it tracks, including several emerging markets like Latin America and India. Parekh noted that the company had more than 1.5 billion paid subscriptions globally, with both transacting and paid accounts reaching new highs during the quarter.
Despite strong sales, Apple faces significant margin pressure from rising memory costs. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, CFO Kevan Parekh warned that gross margin is expected to be between 45% and 46% in the upcoming quarter, lower than the 47% to 48% range Apple had expected for the September quarter. Parekh attributed the expected fall mainly to higher memory costs, along with some expenses linked to the rollout of Siri AI. He noted that without tariff refunds, both the company's overall and product gross margins would have fallen by around one percentage point compared with the June quarter. The company has already started taking steps to secure enough supplies, with manufacturing purchase obligations increasing by $33 billion between June and September. Apple has increased prices of some products to deal with rising costs, raising iPhone 17 model prices by $100 and increasing prices of some MacBook models as it launched the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. CEO John Ternus described the current rise in memory prices as 'unprecedented', warning that the benefit Apple currently gets from using memory purchased at lower prices will gradually reduce.
For the full fiscal year, Apple posted revenue of $478.8 billion, an increase of 15%, while earnings per share rose 20% to $8.98. The company expects revenue in the December quarter to grow between 7 and 10% year-on-year, which would make it the highest-revenue quarter in its history, according to CFO Kevan Parekh. However, Apple shares fell after the company released its earnings report as investors weighed the strong sales outlook against the warning about rising costs. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, Apple also expects its services business to grow by 8% to 9% during the holiday quarter, which was well below Wall Street expectations. Despite the margin pressures, Apple expects its business to grow during the holiday quarter, with the company taking steps to secure enough memory supplies and implementing price increases to offset some of the additional costs. Ternus said Apple intends to close the year with what he called its 'most ambitious lineup yet', including the iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, new home hardware, and Touch to Mac with an all-new Siri AI set to feature in the company's product offering for the holiday season.
