Apple India looks beyond iPhone for growth as market starts maturing

Analysts said this reflects Apple’s growing maturity in its India business, as a larger user base helps Apple sell its other products and services, such as Apple Music and Apple TV, beyond the iPhone, which is still its primary cash cow. This could be important in the long run as quarterly double-digit iPhone sales growth in India eventually slows.

“iPhone saw strength around the world, hitting all-time revenue records in many markets we track, and also hitting a December record in India. “The iPhone’s active installed base has reached an all-time high, setting a new all-time record for upgraders overall and in many countries, including the United States, Mainland China, Japan and India,” Kevan Parekh, Apple’s chief financial officer, said on the company’s quarterly analyst call on Thursday.

Apple reported its best quarter ever as it began counting down its 50-year existence with global revenue of $143.8 billion. While Apple doesn’t disclose nationwide product sales or revenue figures, three analysts compiled their estimates as follows: Mint Apple’s 2025 calendar shows it selling 15.5 million iPhones in India and closing the year with $10 billion in revenue.

great opportunity

“We set a quarterly revenue record in December. To go a little further down, we broke quarterly revenue records for iPhone, Mac and iPad, and we broke an all-time revenue record for services. So we had a terrific quarter in India,” Cook said during a call with analysts. “We really like what we see there; it’s the second-largest smartphone market and the fourth-largest PC market in the world. So, despite a very nice growth track record, we still have a modest share there, and so we think there’s a huge opportunity for us there. And we couldn’t be more excited about that.”

“The other thing I want to point out is that the majority of customers who are buying iPhone, Mac, iPad and Watch are new to this product. So that speaks volumes to the opportunity there,” he added.

Parekh said Apple is seeing “strong double-digit growth in installed base in India”, without disclosing figures on the total number of iPhone users in the country.

Analysts said Apple’s growth trajectory has seen the company benefit from customers venturing deeper into its product and service ecosystem after over five years of double-digit growth in India.

“Apple left 2025 with its highest performance ever” smartphone market share, 9% market share in terms of volume and 28% market share in terms of revenue… iPhone 16 became the best-selling model in India. “We now see Apple’s ecosystem strengthening as its all-time high installed customer base is ripe for cross-selling within the ecosystem,” said Tarun Pathak, research director at market research firm Counterpoint India.

“We’re seeing a clear ‘halo effect’ of Apple’s growing user base as a service, with Mac and iPad all posting record quarterly revenue in India. Strong products combined with the strength of the sales channel are helping Apple reach a demanding user base faster than ever before,” added Pathak.

exponential growth

While Apple sold around 1.5 million iPhones in India during the year, it had a meager 0.9% market share by volume in 2019, according to Counterpoint data. It has followed an exponential growth trend since then, with sales expected to reach 15.5 million units in 2025. This marks a 10-fold increase in annual iPhone sales in seven years, which now also helps Apple sell its laptops, tablets and subscription services to customers in India.

Apple’s subscription services include Apple Music, iCloud for storage, Apple TV for video streaming, Apple Arcade for gaming, and Fitness+ for activity and fitness.

Cook added that the company plans to open a physical retail store in India this year after adding three stores in Bengaluru, Pune and Noida by 2025.

Prabhu Ram, vice president of industry research group CyberMedia Research, agrees that Apple’s performance in India “reflects strengthening underlying demand and increasing ecosystem depth.”

“Apple remains in the early stages of its India journey with significant headroom for growth. This momentum is supported by both new customer acquisitions and a growing loyal user base, with consumer engagement increasingly expanding beyond device purchasing to broader ecosystem adoption, strengthening Apple’s long-term growth potential in the market,” Ram said.

Of Apple’s global quarterly revenue of $143.8 billion, iPhone sales rose to more than $85 billion and services rose to $30 billion.