Apple's Record-Breaking Sales in India and Its Expansion Plans
TapTechNews July 15th news, according to Bloomberg report, Apple's annual sales in India reached a record high of nearly $8 billion (TapTechNews note: currently about 58.257 billion yuan), highlighting the importance of this rapidly growing market. Apple now assembles more devices in India and has opened two flagship stores in the country.
According to an informed source, in the 12 months ending in March, Apple's revenue in India increased by approximately 33%, higher than the $6 billion in the same period last year. The unnamed source said that Apple's expensive iPhones account for more than half of the sales.
This growth indicates that Apple has made steady progress in winning over users in the world's most populous country. As the economy expands, the purchasing power of Indian consumers is gradually increasing. Apple views India as a way to diversify its manufacturing and revenue sources.
Apple does not separately list India's revenue in its financial reports, but Indian law requires it to report annual sales to the local government.
According to Counterpoint Research, the Indian market is still dominated by cheaper Chinese devices using Google's Android mobile operating system. Among the approximately 690 million smartphones in use in India, iPhones only account for about 3.5%. Although India is one of Apple's fastest-growing markets, but this South Asian country only accounts for about 2% of its $383 billion in sales in the most recent fiscal year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is trying to change the status quo. He visited India last year and opened the first two Apple Stores in the country, selling iPhones, iPads, MacBook computers and other devices and accessories. The expanding middle class in India regards Apple products as a status symbol, which may gradually help the company reduce its dependence on sales in China.
In the most recent fiscal year, Apple's revenue in China shrank to $72.6 billion, but iPhone sales have rebounded strongly in recent months due to significant discounts from retailers.
Apple is also rapidly expanding its manufacturing operations in India. Currently, Apple has already manufactured models including the latest iPhone 15 in India, but not the higher-spec Pro and ProMax models. Most of the devices assembled by the company in India are exported overseas. Bloomberg News previously reported that Apple's assembly partners in India doubled the production of iPhones in the last fiscal year to $14 billion, meaning that Apple now produces up to 14% or about one-seventh of its star devices in India.
At Apple's earnings conference call in May, Cook said the company is working hard to improve various aspects such as developers, markets and operations in India. I think this is an incredibly exciting market and a key focus for us, he said.