Mumbai, India
Officials in India say that Apple has made a 20-fold increase in its local operations, including iPhone production, making it both the fastest-growing company, and also the first to become that because of moving work from China.
It’s already been reported that Apple’s sales in India have risen dramatically, up an estimated 33% from March 2023 to March 2024. Similarly, the company’s expanding manufacturing there has only been increasing, with 14% of all iPhones currently coming from India.
Now according to local publication The Economic Times, the country’s officials have been reporting on exactly how much Apple has been growing in the region. According to people listed only as top officials, the value of Apple’s India operations rose from Rs 1.15 lakh crore ($13.7 billion) in financial year 2023, to Rs 2 lakh crore ($23.5 billion) in the year since.
According to these officials, this means that Apple’s growth in production and exports is likely to be the fastest in the last half a century. India’s contribution to Apple has also increased from 7% of the company’s total production in financial year 2023, to 14% in financial year 2024.
Apple’s market share in India remains less than 6%. During India’s antitrust investigation into the company, begun in 2021, Apple had claimed that its market share was an “insignificant” 0% to 5%.
The market share is rising, though, with domestic sales of the iPhone reaching $8 billion in FY24. In comparison, Apple’s Indian operation exported $15 billion worth of iPhones in that last fiscal year.
Despite the comparatively weak showing of the iPhone compared to sales of Android smartphones, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has concluded that Apple abuses its dominant position with the App Store. However, the investigation that produced this conclusion may now have to be redone after Apple objected to privileged information being included in the CCI’s report.
