Apple's India business has crossed the $10 billion revenue mark for the first time in FY26, driven by robust iPhone demand and strong performance across all product categories. According to CNBC TV18, this milestone places the tech giant among India's largest companies by revenue, with only 24 Nifty50 firms generating higher annual sales. The achievement reinforces India's growing importance to Apple not only as a manufacturing base but also as one of its fastest-growing consumer markets. In what is Tim Cook's final earnings call as CEO, Apple reported its highest-ever quarter ending June with revenue of $109.4 billion, marking a 16% year-on-year increase. The company recorded the highest growth rate of 22.42% in Greater China, followed by Europe at 22.4% and Rest of Asia Pacific at 15.6%.
India recorded strong double-digit Mac growth and emerged as one of Apple's strongest-performing Mac markets during the quarter. According to CFO Kevan Parekh, the Mac business generated a record $10.4 billion in global revenue, up 29% year-on-year, driven by the strength of MacBook Neo and MacBook Pro. The Mac business showed particularly strong performance in India, with the country recording its best-ever quarter for both first-time buyers and customers upgrading from older devices. As per Counterpoint Research, Apple's India performance was driven by strong MacBook Neo adoption, alongside continued demand for the iPhone 17 series, even as iPhone supplies remained constrained. In the earnings call, Cook noted that "the customer reception to MacBook Neo has been incredible" and highlighted growth in both developed and emerging markets, with customer satisfaction for Mac measured at 95% in the U.S.
Despite record performance, Apple faces significant headwinds from rising memory chip prices, which the company expects to impact business in the coming quarters. CEO Tim Cook warned that "as I alluded to last quarter, we expected to pay significantly more in the June quarter than the March quarter. That is what happened." The company increased starting prices of MacBook and iPad models by 20% to 42% compared to their launch prices across the globe, including India, mainly due to memory chip cost increases. For September, Apple expects to pay even higher memory costs and anticipates market pricing for memory continuing to increase, which could drive an increasing impact on the business beyond the September quarter. Cook explained that "the advanced nodes SoCs that we need is supply constrained. The root cause is not a regular supply issue. It's not a suppler relationship issue either. Instead, our demand forecast is too high."
Apple's retail presence in India continues to expand with the company opening a new store in Mumbai in February, taking its official shop count in the country to six stores. As per NDTV, Apple's retail expansion comes as the company seeks to grow its market share in India, where high taxes make iPhones pricey - the entry-level iPhone 17 model is priced at ₹82,900 ($870) in India, compared to $799 in the US. To grow its market share, Apple has partnered with banks for credit card rebates, offers student discounts, and provides trade-ins on older devices. India has become key to Apple's manufacturing strategy, with five factories producing iPhones and one in every four iPhones now made in India, serving as the major source of US-bound devices. The company's local sourcing requirements previously kept it away from opening stores in India for years, but policy easing allowed Apple to launch its online store in 2020 and first physical stores in 2023.
