India became Apple’s fifth largest iPhone market in the second quarter for the first time, overtaking France and Germany, according to Counterpoint Research (as noted by CNBC).
The country contributed close to 4% of all iPhone sales in the second quarter, growing 50% year-on-year. For Apple, India overtook Germany and France for iPhone sales in the June quarter, and is now behind the U.K., Japan, China and the U.S., Counterpoint Research told CNBC. It’s the first time India has been one of Apple’s top five markets for iPhone sales.
Apple commanded a 5.1% market share in India’s total smartphone market in the period to the end of June, versus 3.4% in the same period last year, Counterpoint Research said. The rapid growth in India comes as Apple ramps up its presence in the world’s fifth-largest economy from both a retail and manufacturing perspective, notes CNBC.
For example, smartphones catapulted into the league of five most exported commodities by value in India, based on their harmonized system (HS) codes in fiscal year 2023 (FY23), up from the ninth rank in the pecking order in FY22, according to the Business Standard. This is thanks in part to the iPhone. (HS is a globally harmonized identification for a specific product used for export and import of the commodity.)
Apple has moved 7% of its entire production to India, which has made a big impact on the country’s export statistics, according to the Business Standard. In FY22 the whole smartphone export market was worth approximately US$5.4 billion to India. For FY2023, it’s $10.9 billion. The iPhones accounted for approximately half of that $10.9 billion total, according to the Business Standard. What’s more, Apple reportedly plans to have shifted 18% of its iPhone production to India by 2025.
Finally, Apple’s first two own stores in India have grossed monthly sales of over ₹22-25 crore [approximately US$2.7-$3 million] each, according to The Economic Times of India (a subscription is required to read the article).
That’s well over two times what could be the highest revenue for an electronics store in the country during non-Diwali period [Festival of Lights], the article adds. The Mumbai store (Apple BKC) opened on April 18 and the New Delhi store (Apple Saket) two days later.
According to The Electronic Times, Apple BKC had a first-day billing of over ₹10 crore [$1.2 million], which is ₹2-3 crore [$240,000 – $360,000] more than what some of the largest local electronics stores post in a month.
The article adds that the per-square foot revenue is higher for the second store, at Select Citywalk mall in Saket, New Delhi. Apple Saket is over 10,000 square feet, less than half the 22,000 square feet of Apple BKC. But revenues are almost similar. Both stores had an opening day footfall of over 6,000 people each.
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today