iPhone 17 breaks another record in Apple's India surge

Sales were 15-20% higher than earlier models in the first 30 days, Bernstein, Counterpoint and IDC estimated. Counterpoint’s projections showed that the iPhone 17 accounted for 57% of all iPhones sold—the highest-ever adoption of Apple's latest generation smartphone in India to date.

Until the iPhone 17 launch, older models dominated sales even after new launches, according to IDC and Counterpoint. While these will still account for the majority of sales in fiscal year 2026 (FY26), the percentage of buyers choosing the newest model is on the rise.

That reflects Apple’s growing fortunes in India even as the market struggles. Smartphone sales in the country have declined over the past three years, while revenue has risen, suggesting increasing demand for higher-priced models.

“In India, sustained promotions, improved supply following the shift to local assembly, and the expansion of longer-tenure EMI plans have supported Apple’s growth," Bernstein analysts Mark Newman, Mark Li, Alex Wang, Stacy Rasgon and David Dai wrote in a 28 October note.

While the report did not specifically mention India estimates, Bernstein cited that Apple’s Europe segment includes India, the Middle East and Africa. “In September, Europe’s sell-through units grew 20.4% year-on-year to 6.6 million, while Japan grew 18.2% to 1.7 million," it said, adding that part of that growth “is attributed to India."

Queries emailed to Apple seeking comment on iPhone 17 sales in India remained unanswered until press time.

“Last year, the iPhone 16 saw a mid-single-digit growth in sales in the first month, over the iPhone 15. This year, the iPhone 17’s sales grew 18% year-on-year—showing rising revenue for the company from its India sales," said Tarun Pathak, partner and director at Counterpoint. “This has been driven by a combination of factors, including the iPhone 17 offering a robust feature set this year—and the availability of easy affordability plans even across tier-III markets and beyond."

On track for sales record

Apple, which declares its fourth quarter earnings on Friday, does not spell out revenue from India. However, analysts at Counterpoint and IDC maintain that based on its sales volumes and average selling prices, Apple ended FY25 with over $10 billion in revenue from India. That would translate to 2.5% of Apple's $400.4 billion in global revenue during this period. Apple counts October to September as its financial year.

IDC and Counterpoint estimate that this calendar year, Apple could sell over 15 million new iPhones in India. At an average selling price of around $750, according to Counterpoint, this may help it generate nearly $11.5 billion in annual revenue from India and $13 billion in overall revenue, including Mac PCs, wearables, audio devices, tablets and services.

This would mark a rise of over 40% in Apple’s FY25 India revenue, a growth accelerated by the best-ever sales of Apple’s newest iPhone.

Apple’s chief executive officer Tim Cook has called out India’s record revenue for 14 straight quarters and that is expected to continue for the 15th consecutive quarter.

Overall, a consensus of analysts polled by Wall Street points to a 6.6% year-on-year rise in quarterly revenue for the company, according to Yahoo Finance report. Apple follows an October to September financial year.

The company is also expanding its retail presence in India, adding two new stores in Bengaluru and Pune last month. It is expected to line up two more retail outlets in the next 12 months.

Apple is also expanding its manufacturing presence in India, having announced earlier this year that it will serve almost the entire US market from its assembly lines here.

Yet, Apple has been an outlier. Since 2021, India’s smartphone market has declined in volume and seen only mid-single-digit growth in net smartphone market revenue. While net sales have declined 6% in the past three years, revenue generated from smartphone sales rose 23% during this period.

Apple has seen its sales in India nearly triple to 12.5 million iPhones last year and is on track to grow 20-25% this year to 15.5 million units. Apple’s average smartphone price is nearly three times the average selling price of phones in the market.

Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president at IDC India, however, flagged that older models will prove to be a drag on the sales of new models.

“The key thing to note here is that sales of the newest iPhone will see a natural increase year-on-year, giving the company ample room to expand in India with double-digit figures," Singh said. “But at some point, Apple will see sales of older models continue to be an obstacle to its growth. Sales of older devices across reused market channels are another threat to the potential growth of Apple’s newest iPhones, too."