New Delhi: Apple’s outgoing chief executive officer Tim Cook Friday said the company has a lot of room for growth despite seeing strong success recently. Apple recorded double-digit growth in India and other emerging markets in sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs in the March quarter, Cook told investors in a call.
The growth in sales comes even as the broader Indian smartphone market saw its weakest quarter in six years amid rising component cost pressures and weak demand. Handset shipments fell 3-5% on-year in the March quarter as price hikes affected demand in the market.
Also Read: Apple says India's antitrust body overstepping judicial authority as spat intensifies
“Even with a reduction in the aggressive discounting and affordability programmes seen in Q1’26 compared to previous quarters, Apple achieved strong double-digit value growth,” said IDC India research manager Upasana Joshi. IDC said the iPhone 17 series accounted for 60% of Apple’s total March quarter shipments in India.
According to Counterpoint Research, Apple remained the leading player with the highest value share of over 25% in the Indian smartphone market, and a volume share of 9%, driven by the sustained momentum of the iPhone 17 series. “This growth is the result of a multi-focused approach across its products, channels, and operations,” said Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint Research.
“Beyond iPhones, Apple also had a solid quarter in the Mac and iPad categories, as its aspirational appeal in India is now stronger than ever. As a result, the company saw a record number of users entering the Apple ecosystem during the quarter,” he added.
Apple did not face any constraints from securing memory chips during the ongoing shortage, Cook said. “In the December quarter, we really had a minimal impact due to memory. We did see higher memory costs in the March quarter and they were partially offset by benefits from carry-in inventory,” Cook said.
However, Apple expects significantly higher memory costs in the June quarter, which will be partially offset by existing inventory. Beyond the current quarter, Cook warned that rising memory costs will drive an increasing impact on Apple’s business. The company is evaluating a range of options to navigate the price increases.
Also Read: Tim Cook says he is 'over the moon' as Apple eyes massive growth in India
Commenting on the Indian market, Cook said there are a lot of people moving into the middle class in India. “If you look at the majority of customers in all of our categories from the iPhone to the Mac to the iPad to the watch, they are new to that product there. So it speaks very well to growing the install base there. Net net, I’m over the moon excited about India,” he said.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity for us. We have been focused on this for a while. It’s the second largest smartphone market in the world and the third largest PC market. And despite doing extremely well there for quite some time, we still have a modest share,” Cook said during a call with analysts Friday.
The growth in sales comes even as the broader Indian smartphone market saw its weakest quarter in six years amid rising component cost pressures and weak demand. Handset shipments fell 3-5% on-year in the March quarter as price hikes affected demand in the market.
Also Read: Apple says India's antitrust body overstepping judicial authority as spat intensifies
“Even with a reduction in the aggressive discounting and affordability programmes seen in Q1’26 compared to previous quarters, Apple achieved strong double-digit value growth,” said IDC India research manager Upasana Joshi. IDC said the iPhone 17 series accounted for 60% of Apple’s total March quarter shipments in India.
According to Counterpoint Research, Apple remained the leading player with the highest value share of over 25% in the Indian smartphone market, and a volume share of 9%, driven by the sustained momentum of the iPhone 17 series. “This growth is the result of a multi-focused approach across its products, channels, and operations,” said Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint Research.
“Beyond iPhones, Apple also had a solid quarter in the Mac and iPad categories, as its aspirational appeal in India is now stronger than ever. As a result, the company saw a record number of users entering the Apple ecosystem during the quarter,” he added.
Apple did not face any constraints from securing memory chips during the ongoing shortage, Cook said. “In the December quarter, we really had a minimal impact due to memory. We did see higher memory costs in the March quarter and they were partially offset by benefits from carry-in inventory,” Cook said.
However, Apple expects significantly higher memory costs in the June quarter, which will be partially offset by existing inventory. Beyond the current quarter, Cook warned that rising memory costs will drive an increasing impact on Apple’s business. The company is evaluating a range of options to navigate the price increases.
Also Read: Tim Cook says he is 'over the moon' as Apple eyes massive growth in India
Commenting on the Indian market, Cook said there are a lot of people moving into the middle class in India. “If you look at the majority of customers in all of our categories from the iPhone to the Mac to the iPad to the watch, they are new to that product there. So it speaks very well to growing the install base there. Net net, I’m over the moon excited about India,” he said.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity for us. We have been focused on this for a while. It’s the second largest smartphone market in the world and the third largest PC market. And despite doing extremely well there for quite some time, we still have a modest share,” Cook said during a call with analysts Friday.
