India is now Apple’s 4th largest market, iPhone shipment grows to 8.2%: IDC

India continues to be a key growth market for Apple even as it faces a dip in sales in key markets including China. India is now Apple’s fourth largest market after the US, China and Japan, according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report published Monday. Apple shipped 12 million iPhones in 2024, growing 34.6% year-on-year (YoY) and capturing 8.2% of the Indian smartphone market, up from 6.4% a year ago. 

In Q4 2024, Apple reached another milestone, becoming the fifth leading smartphone brand for the first time in a quarter by capturing 10% of the Indian market. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 were the most shipped Apple products during the quarter. 

In terms of annual shipments, Apple remains the sixth leading smartphone brand in India. 

Revenue from global iPhone sales dropped to $69.14 billion from $69.71 billion a year ago, according to Apple’s financial earning report for the December quarter of 2024, released January 30. 

Industry experts have attributed the dip to the delayed roll out of the highly publicised Apple Intelligence, which includes a bunch of generative AI based capabilities and features that can assist users with writing, photo editing, call transcriptions, and online search. 

Apple Intelligence is expected to roll out in the new iPhone 16 lineup and the iPhone 15 Pro models with iOS 18.4 update in April. Apple has taken a more cautious approach to generative AI unlike most of its competitors, avoiding a rushed release. 

A February report by Kantar found that iPhone 16 was the most popular smartphone series worldwide in Q4 2024. The new AI features have added to the appeal of the new iPhones. Kantar found that AI influenced brand preference for more than 20% of smartphone buyers. 

India is a key growth market for Apple as has been acknowledged by CEO Tim Cook multiple times. The US company opened two Apple Stores in India in April 2023 and is planning to open more of its flagship stores. 

“India set a December quarter record during the quarter. And we’re opening more stores there. We’ve announced that we’re going to open four new stores there,” Cook said in the earnings call last month. The iPhone was the top selling smartphone in India for the quarter, added Cook. 

India is also emerging as a major manufacturing destination for Apple as it seeks to reduce over-dependence on China due to the ongoing US-China trade war and to avoid another supply chain disruption as was seen during covid-19. According to industry estimates, 14% of iPhones are currently made in India, making it Apple’s biggest iPhone producer outside of China. Apple is reportedly planning to increase the output from India to 25% by 2027.

Apple’s key iPhone manufacturing partners in India include Foxconn, Pegatron and Tata Electronics, which took over Wistron India’s iPhone manufacturing facility in late 2023.

Image credit: Apple