Apple rings up over three years of record iPhone sales in India
:
Apple Inc. on Thursday announced its 13th straight quarter of record revenue from India, while projecting a nearly $3 billion impact from US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs this calendar year.
The company, which follows an October-to-September fiscal year, reported $94.2 billion in global quarterly revenue in the three months ended 30 June—beating Bloomberg estimates of $89.2 billion—driven by higher-than-expected sales in China and strong demand for its iPhone around the world.
Apple 'saw iPhone growth in every geographic segment and double-digit growth in emerging markets, including India," said chief executive Tim Cook while presenting the June quarter results.
Market researchers' data reaffirm this claim.
On Wednesday, Counterpoint India said the Cupertino-headquartered firm's iPhone 16 was the most-sold smartphone during the June quarter, leading Apple to top India's smartphone market in terms of revenue.
Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president of IDC India, added that the US tech giant was on track to sell nearly 15 million iPhones in India in 2025, potentially also breaking into the country's top five smartphone-selling brands.
Singh's estimates suggested that Apple may have sold 2.5-3 million iPhones in the June quarter, generating over $2 billion in revenue from India—roughly 4.5% of its global iPhone revenue.
This was incidentally Apple's best quarter globally in the past four years in terms of year-on-year growth, and India is now among its top-four geographies, according to IDC, behind the US, China, and Japan.
Going forward, Apple hopes to see a further uptick. Cook added that the MacBook maker is set to 'open new stores in the UAE and India later this year".
Tariffs trump gains
All of this, however, comes at a cost. The quarter under review marked the second consecutive period during which Apple noted a direct impact on its cost of operations owing to Trump's sweeping tariffs.
'For the June quarter, we incurred approximately $800 million of tariff-related costs. For the September quarter, assuming the current global tariff rates, policies, and applications do not change for the balance of the quarter, and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the impact to add about $1.1 billion to our costs," Cook said.
In the March quarter, the CEO said tariffs added $900 million to its costs. With this, since Trump took office, Apple has projected a net addition of $2.7 billion to its overall cost of operations. This is because Apple depends on nations such as China and India to manufacture its iPhones and other devices.
Earlier this year, concerns regarding Trump's negative stance towards China saw Apple push more of its device assemblies to India. Now, even as India's iPhone makers such as Tata Electronics and Bharat Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) invest to ramp up production capacity, Apple is under pressure from the US President to move its iPhone production to the US.
On 30 July, Trump also announced that India would be subjected to 25% trade tariffs from the US, even as the two nations remain on the negotiation table for a bilateral trade agreement. Cook, taking these factors into account, said that his 'estimate should not be used to make projections for future quarters, as there are many factors that could change, including tariff rates".
India, however, currently remains exempt from US tariffs in the electronics sector, thereby not threatening Apple's push for its India market growth.
'The China-plus-one strategy is very real, and with all factors taken in, India could ramp up to assembling up to 100 million iPhones for Apple annually by 2026. This would be a huge opportunity for the country to become even more relevant for Apple, if it ends up making 40% of all of its iPhones," IDC's Singh added.
On the consumer front, Apple was one of the biggest factors for the industry's growth in the June quarter, said Prachir Singh, senior research analyst at Counterpoint India.
Stating that sales of smartphones priced above ₹50,000 grew more than 35% on-year in India, he said Apple 'capitalized on premium phone demand through aggressive affordability initiatives such as trade-in programmes, no-cost EMIs, and limited-period summer discounts".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
11 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Company advised by Trump sons said it hoped to benefit from fed money, then took it back
A public document filed by a company that just hired President Donald Trump's two oldest sons as advisers included a sentence early Monday that said it hoped to benefit from grants and other incentives from the federal government, which their father happens to lead. But when The Associated Press asked the Trump family business about the apparent conflict of interest, the document was revised and the line taken out. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are getting 'founder shares' worth millions of dollars in New America Acquisition 1 Corp., a company with no operating business that hopes to fill that hole by purchasing an American company that can play 'a meaningful role in revitalizing domestic manufacturing,' according to the filing. The president has geared his trade policy toward boosting manufacturing in the U.S. The original version of the securities filing said the target company should be 'well positioned' to tap federal or state government incentives. That reference was taken out of the revised version. The Trump Organization didn't reply to a question about whether New America still planned to benefit from government programs or why the line was cut. But the outside law firm Paul Hastings that helped prepare the document sent an email to AP saying it was 'mistake' made by 'scriveners,' an old term for transcribers of legal papers. Kathleen Clark, an expert in government ethics, said any excuses are too late because the Trumps had already tipped their hand. 'They just deleted the language. They haven't committed not to do what they said earlier today they were planning to do,' said the Washington University law professor and Trump critic. 'It's an attempt to exploit public office for private profit.' New America is what's know as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. It's a publicly traded company that exists solely to use its funds to acquire another company and take the target public. New America plans to raise money by selling new stock on the New York Stock Exchange at $10 a share. That will hand the two Trump sons a potential total of $50 million in paper wealth the moment the stock begins trading on the first day. The company hopes to sell enough shares to raise $300 million, which it then plans to use buying a yet unidentified manufacturer. A press release issued by New America saying it was focused on 'American values and priorities.' It made no mention of the aim to get government incentives. The filing to New America's potential new investors to the Securities and Exchange Commission was explicit about what it was looking for in a target company. It said, among other things, it wanted a company that can ride 'public policy tailwinds' by benefiting from federal or state 'grants, tax credits, government contracts or preferential procurement programs.'
Economic Times
11 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Paytm shares in focus as Antfin plans 5.4% equity stake sale via block deal
Shares of One 97 Communications (Paytm) will be in focus on Tuesday, August 5, as Antfin (Netherlands) Holding B.V. plans to sell 5.4% of its stake in the company through a block deal on Indian stock exchanges. ADVERTISEMENT According to the term sheet, the transaction is valued at Rs 3,803.3 crore (approximately USD 434 million) at the offer floor price. The offer floor price has been set at Rs 1,020 per share, representing a 5.4% discount to Paytm's closing price of Rs 1,078.20 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as of August 4. The sale involves up to 3.7 million shares, accounting for 5.84% of the company's total outstanding proposed sale will be executed as a bulk sale via one or more share sales on the screen-based trading platform of Indian stock exchanges. The entire offering is secondary in nature, implying that the company will not receive any proceeds from the deal is being managed by Citigroup Global Markets India and Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, who are acting as the placement agents for the transaction. ADVERTISEMENT Books Open: Around 7:00 AM IST on August 5, with the option to close earlier. Around 7:00 AM IST on August 5, with the option to close earlier. Expected Trade Date: August 5, 2025 (T) August 5, 2025 (T) Expected Settlement Date: August 6, 2025 (T+1) August 6, 2025 (T+1) Lock -up: Not applicable; classified as a clean-up trade Not applicable; classified as a clean-up trade Brokerage & Charges: Buyer to bear 25 basis points, with additional market charges as applicable Buyer to bear 25 basis points, with additional market charges as applicable USD/INR Reference Rate: 87.6525 (Bloomberg rate as of August 4, 2025, 4:00 PM IST) According to the term sheet, no official pricing guidance will be provided until the shares are crossed on the exchanges on August 5. ADVERTISEMENT On Monday, the shares of Paytm closed flat at Rs 1,078.30 on the BSE. Also read: Tata Investment announces first-ever stock split in 1:10 ratio; check details on record date (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times) ADVERTISEMENT (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Time of India
11 minutes ago
- Time of India
Why Trump's tariff move isn't likely to shake India's oil ties with Russia
Donald Trump has made a lot of noise about India's oil trade with Russia, calling it profiteering and threatening to 'substantially raise' tariffs on Indian goods. But New Delhi isn't blinking. As reported by TOI, a senior Indian government official put it plainly, 'We will go solely by the interest of our consumers and opt for the best option price-wise. If Russian crude works out cheaper than what we can get from other sources, why should we penalise our consumers?' The Centre has so far not made any move to wean off Indian oil refiners from Russian crude, which comes at a steep discount compared to purchases from west Asia or US. It has not just helped keep domestic pump prices lower, but also benefited European countries, which have been major buyers of diesel and jet fuel from India, sources told TOI. The economic logic is straightforward. Russian oil has been cheaper than what's available from West Asia or the US. India's refiners are not just cutting costs—they're helping stabilise fuel prices at home. And here's the kicker: Europe benefits too, as Indian refiners export refined fuels like diesel and jet fuel, some of which reach European markets. Trump's pressure tactics and the political showmanship Trump's frustration is spilling over into tariff threats. His core accusation? 'India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine .' He followed that with, 'Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.' No actual figures were given. But just last week, he'd already slapped a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods and floated a possible jump to 100 per cent unless India stops buying Russian oil. Trump's new deadline is August 7. If Russia doesn't agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, he's hinted at secondary sanctions on countries that continue trading energy with Moscow. That includes India, China, and Brazil. But these threats are running into hard economic and political realities. Why Russian oil imports still makes sense for India After the West sanctioned Moscow in 2022, Russia started offering deep discounts on its oil. That's when India stepped in. It now buys around 1.7 million barrels a day of Russian crude, according to Bloomberg data. India isn't just stockpiling it. In the first half of this year, it exported 1.4 million barrels a day of refined fuels. About 40 per cent of that was diesel or gasoil, and 30 per cent was petrol and blending components. Refiners blend multiple sources of crude before producing fuels, so it's not always clear which exports came from Russian barrels. But the volume speaks for itself. And the trade hasn't slowed down. Over the weekend, at least four tankers delivered millions of barrels of Russian crude to Indian ports. India pushes back: No apologies, no shift in strategy India's Ministry of External Affairs had a sharp response. 'The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable,' it said. 'Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.' It also pointed out that the US and EU themselves continue to trade with Russia, even when there's no national compulsion. India's position has been consistent. The decision to buy Russian oil was triggered when traditional suppliers diverted their barrels to Europe. It was the US, in fact, that nudged India to continue those purchases—albeit within the G7's price cap. Energy Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told CNBC in July that the Russian crude trade helped global prices stay in check, saying India was advised by Washington to keep buying—'but within the price cap.' NSA Doval heads to Moscow National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is heading to Moscow this week. The visit is expected to offer clarity on how India plans to navigate what officials call a 'geo-economic trilemma': cheap energy, political pressure, and long-term security interests. India has not made any move to scale back Russian imports. If anything, officials are eyeing additional discounts in light of Trump's bluster. Even business circles in Delhi are calling out the former US president's rhetoric. A statement from trade research body GTRI summed it up, 'India's oil trade with Russia has taken place with full transparency and broad understanding with the US… Trump's decision to raise tariffs on India citing oil trade is not only unjustified—it ignores market realities, misrepresents trade data, and undermines a key strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific.' The BRICS factor and Dollar alternatives This isn't just about oil. Trump has also slammed India's involvement in BRICS and the bloc's discussions around alternatives to the US dollar. He's claimed India has the 'most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers' and is using tariffs as leverage to open up Indian markets to US agriculture and dairy—an area where India has refused to budge. One official noted that despite discussions, India would not allow imports of genetically modified American corn and soybean. Nor would it revise its stand on farm and dairy tariffs, which Trump has repeatedly criticised. India's energy alternatives, but only if needed If forced to diversify, India could boost imports from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the US. In fact, last week saw India's largest refiner suddenly snap up several million barrels from the US and UAE—moves widely interpreted as precautionary, not strategic shifts. India had, during trade talks, shown interest in ramping up imports of American gas, fertiliser, and defence equipment to improve the trade balance. But there are limits. Modi has refused to open up sensitive sectors like dairy, even as the US pushes hard. Trump and Modi were once seen as political allies. That relationship has cooled. The current standoff is the latest in a string of Trump-led escalations over oil, trade barriers, and foreign policy. From threatening to block access to US markets over India-Pakistan tensions, to taking credit for peace deals India denies happened, Trump's combative posture has worn thin in Delhi. His latest push threatening penalties on anyone still paying for Russian oil reflects growing frustration with Putin's unwillingness to compromise. Trump's nuclear submarine move last week, reportedly in response to Dmitry Medvedev's rhetoric, only adds to the volatility. But India, for now, isn't shifting course. As one Indian official summed it up, 'We are guided by what's best for Indian consumers, not what's best for Washington politics.' And that might be the line that defines this whole saga.
