In March, the next fiscal year ended in India, and Apple was forced to report to local authorities on the revenue received in the country during this period. According to Bloomberg, it increased by a third over the year to a record $8 billion. In the scale of Apple’s business, this is still a drop in the ocean, but the local market has impressive potential, especially against the backdrop of deteriorating relations between the United States and China.
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In the Chinese market, Apple is believed to have earned $72.6 billion in revenue last fiscal year, but this amount was lower than the previous reporting period. Although Apple opened another branded store in China this year, it is paying special attention to business development in neighboring India. In two major cities of this country, one Apple brand store appeared last year. Apple CEO Tim Cook personally took part in their opening ceremony, and in general, the company’s presence in the country is expanding in a number of areas, according to him.
Apple in India produces a couple of junior models of the iPhone 15 family, but the bulk of Indian-assembled smartphones are exported. However, more than half of the company’s $8 billion in revenue last year came from the sale of smartphones. In 2022, Apple generated $4.1 billion in revenue in India, so the company managed to almost double its revenue in a couple of years. However, Indian revenue accounts for no more than 2% of Apple’s total revenue, and its smartphones account for only 3.5% of its user base in India, so the local market is still in the early stages of growth for the company.
Apple contractors assembled $14 billion worth of smartphones in India last year, and one in seven iPhones sold worldwide could be locally assembled, according to Bloomberg. India is becoming not only an important sales market for Apple, but also a major production site, which is facilitated by the deterioration of relations between China and the United States.