NEW DELHI, India — Apple recorded its highest-ever quarterly revenue in India during the October–December period, underscoring the growing importance of the country as a key market for the company, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said.
Speaking during Apple’s earnings call late Thursday U.S. time, Cook said the company delivered strong performance across regions in the December quarter. Apple set all-time revenue records in the Americas, Europe, Japan, and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, while growing in the vast majority of markets it tracks.
“We continued to gain momentum in emerging markets, which includes India, where we saw strong double-digit revenue growth,” Cook said.
He added that Apple’s retail business also delivered its best-ever results globally during the quarter. “In retail, we continue to bring a magical experience to our customers all around the world, and we were thrilled to have our best-ever results in retail during the quarter. We were excited to open our fifth store in India in December and have plans to open another store in Mumbai soon,” Cook said.
Responding to an analyst’s question, Cook confirmed that Apple set a quarterly revenue record in India during the December quarter. “To go a little further down, we set quarterly revenue records on iPhone and Mac and iPad, and an all-time revenue record on Services. So it was a terrific quarter in India,” he said.
Cook said Apple sees significant long-term potential in the country. “We really like what we see there. It’s the second-largest smartphone market in the world and the fourth largest PC market,” he said. “Despite very nice growth history, we have modest share there, and so we think there’s a huge opportunity for us there, and we could not be more excited about it.”
He also noted that many Apple customers in India are first-time buyers. “The other thing that I would point out is that the majority of customers that are buying iPhone and Mac and iPad and Watch are all new to that product and so it speaks very well to opportunity there,” Cook said.
Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said iPhone revenue rose 23 percent year-over-year to $85.3 billion, driven by the iPhone 17 family. “iPhone saw strength around the world, reaching all-time revenue records in many of the markets we track, including the U.S., Greater China, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and South Asia, as well as a December quarter record in India,” he said.
Mac revenue declined 7 percent year-over-year to $8.4 billion. Parekh said the comparison was impacted by major Mac launches in the year-ago quarter. “Despite this, we continued to see growth in several emerging markets, including Brazil, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and more,” he said.
Parekh added that Apple’s Mac installed base reached another record level, with nearly half of customers who purchased a Mac during the quarter being new to the product. (Source: IANS)
