Driven by iPhone and Mac sales, Apple continues its rapid growth in India

Apple Intelligence will be a compelling reason for customers to go for the device upgrade this year, noted Tim Cook, CEO, Apple.

Apple announced on Thursday (August 1) financial results for its fiscal 2024 third quarter (April-June). It recorded quarterly revenue of $85.8 billion, up five per cent year over year.

“During the quarter, we were excited to announce incredible updates to our software platforms at our Worldwide Developers Conference, including Apple Intelligence, a breakthrough personal intelligence system that puts powerful, private generative AI models at the core of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We very much look forward to sharing these tools with our users, and we continue to invest significantly in the innovations that will enrich our customers’ lives, while leading with the values that drive our work,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO

While Apple registered a 6.5 per cent decline in its biggest market, Greater China, it continued to grow rapidly in emerging global regions including India.

"Mac generated $7 billion in revenue, up 2% year-over-year, driven by the MacBook Air powered by the M3 chip. We saw particularly strong performance in our emerging markets, with June quarter records for Mac in Latin America, India, and South Asia," said Luca Maestri, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Apple.

Fuelled by surging demand for iPhones and Macs, Apple improved its quarterly revenue record in the subcontinent.

"We set quarterly revenue records in more than two dozen countries and regions, including Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, the UK, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. And we set an all-time revenue record in services which grew 14%," Cook noted.

Tim Cook is also bullish on Apple Intelligence and said it will be a compelling reason for customers to go for the device upgrade.

The MacBook Air M3.

Like all the previous years, the Cupertino-based company is expected to host a big hardware event in September to unveil a new line of iPhones, watches and more.

"We are very excited about Apple Intelligence and what it brings, and it is another compelling reason for an upgrade," Cook said during the earnings call.

Apple products' sales jumped 33 per cent to a record of almost $8 billion in the year through March (2024). And, iPhones accounted for more than half of its sales.

Also, Apple's supply partners assembled $14 billion worth of iPhones in India last fiscal year.

Besides consumers, corporate companies have also shown interest in investing in Apple Macs for work.

Recently, Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu said almost 80 per cent of the company's workforce is said to use iPhones for work and nearly two-thirds of them chose Mac as their primary computer.

For the last few years, Apple has steadily increased its presence in India. To mark the 25th anniversary the subcontinent opened its first-ever fully owned retail outlets-- Apple BKC Store and Apple Saket Store--in Mumbai and Delhi, respectively.

Both the stores are reportedly registering around Rs 22-25 crore revenue per month each. Apple has plans to expand its retail footprint in more Indian cities in the coming years.

Also, thanks to the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, Apple partners such as Foxconn, Luxshare and Pegatron have set up big assembling plants in Southern India including (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka).

Apple also works with Tata Group, which recently took over the massive 40-acre Wistron Corp plant in Kolar, Karnataka to assemble iPhones.

Recent reports have indicated that Apple and its supply partners will soon set up plants to assemble AirPods, iPads, and related accessories in India.

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