From Niche to Top Five: How Apple Rewired Its India Playbook in 2025

For years, Apple in India was a paradox. A brand admired more than it was owned. Aspirational, premium, and persistently niche. iPhones were coveted, but out of reach for most; Apple Stores were talked about, not visited; and India, despite its scale, remained peripheral to Apple’s global growth story.

That changed decisively in 2025.

In a year marked by global smartphone fatigue, Apple quietly rewrote its India playbook. Revenue crossed the $9-billion mark. Local manufacturing scaled faster than expected. Exports surged. Retail expanded beyond the early Mumbai–Delhi experiment. And for the first time, Apple cracked India’s top five smartphone brands by volume, an unthinkable outcome just a few years ago.

This was not the result of one bold bet, but a convergence of several long-gestating moves finally clicking into place: deeper localisation, aggressive supply-chain diversification, smarter pricing and financing, and a growing base of Indian consumers willing to trade up. India stopped being just a market for Apple. It began to look like a pillar. 2025, in that sense, was not merely a good year for Apple in India. It was the year the strategy matured, and the payoff arrived.

Here’s how Apple did it, and why this moment matters far beyond quarterly numbers.

What milestone did Apple India hit in 2025?

Apple crossed $9 billion in annual revenue in FY25, posting operating revenue of ₹79,060.5 crore, a 19% jump from the previous year. Net profit reportedly rose 16% to ₹3,196 crore, with iPhones contributing the bulk—₹74,680.5 crore—despite global smartphone headwinds.

How did Apple crack India’s top five smartphone brands?

In Q3 2025, Apple shipped 4.9–5 million units, entering India’s top five smartphone brands by volume for the first time. According to IDC, Apple registered 25.6% YoY growth, driven by festive demand and local manufacturing of the iPhone 16 series. “Apple entered the top five brands by volume for the first time in Q3, making India the third-largest iPhone market globally,” said Shubham Singh, Research Analyst at Counterpoint.

Why did manufacturing become the game-changer?

India now accounts for 18% of global iPhone production, up from 12–16% in 2024, with projections to reach 32% by 2026. Tata Electronics and Foxconn operate five plants across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, exporting ₹1.5 lakh crore worth of iPhones in FY25, a 76% surge. Foxconn’s $2.6 billion Bengaluru facility alone produces 300–500 iPhones per hour, signalling Apple’s deepening manufacturing commitment.

What role did premiumisation play in Apple’s rise?

India’s premium smartphone segment (₹30,000+) grew 29% YoY in 2025. Apple captured 28% of premium market revenue despite holding just 7% overall market share, underscoring its pricing power.  “The iPhone 16 was the highest-shipped device in India for the second consecutive quarter,” Singh noted, adding that demand from smaller cities and Pro models continues to push average selling prices higher.

How did Apple expand its retail footprint?

Apple opened two new stores in Bengaluru and Pune in September 2025, adding to its Mumbai and Delhi flagships launched in 2023. More stores in Noida and Mumbai are slated for early 2026, strengthening Apple’s direct-to-consumer push beyond authorised resellers.

How important are exports to Apple’s India strategy?

Crucial. India-made iPhones worth $4.4 billion were exported to the US in the first five months of 2025 alone. Nearly 97% of Foxconn’s exports from India went to America, reinforcing India as Apple’s primary China alternative.

Why is 2025 considered Apple’s inflection point in India?

Because scale, supply chain depth, retail maturity, and consumer demand converged. With one in five iPhones now made in India, Morgan Stanley projects India will contribute 15% of Apple’s global revenue growth over the next five years.

What’s next for Apple India?

By late 2026, Apple aims to ship 70–80 million iPhones annually from India and source all US-bound devices locally. Talks around chip assembly in Gujarat indicate deeper localisation beyond final assembly, signalling a long-term strategic shift.

(yMedia is the content partner for this story)