Apple iPhone just had its best year in India as the smartphone market stays broadly flat

Apple iPhone just had its best year in India as the smartphone market stays broadly flat

Apple’s iPhone is gaining floor fast in India, transport about 14 million items in 2025, based on market data shared solely with TechCrunch.

Yet the nation’s general smartphone market stayed largely flat at round 152–153 million devices. That means that across the full-year of 2025, Apple’s market share of shipments rose to a document 9%. This is up from 7% in 2024, Counterpoint Research data exhibits, making it the iPhone’s strongest year yet in the world’s second-largest smartphone market by quantity.

The good points have been pushed by the iPhone’s product portfolio, rising aspirational demand and wider availability across sales channels, Counterpoint Research’s director for devices and ecosystems, Tarun Pathak, said.

Apple has repeatedly pointed to India as a standout market in latest quarters, with CEO Tim Cook saying the company set an “all-time revenue record in India” on its last earnings name in October. CFO Kevan Parekh also said iPhone’s lively set up base hit an all-time high in India and the company set a quarterly document for upgraders, highlighting Apple’s push to develop its person base past just new consumers, though the company didn’t disclose detailed figures for India on the name.

Beyond shipments, Apple has been widening its footprint in India by ramping up local manufacturing and broadening its retail attain. Last month, the company opened its fifth Apple Store in the nation — its first in Noida — as a part of a broader retail expansion that started in 2023.

Apple is also sharpening its companies pitch in India. Earlier this month, it launched Apple Creator Studio — a subscription bundle of inventive apps such as Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro — priced at ₹399 a month ($4.35) in India. That’s round 66% cheaper than the $12.99 a month it prices in the U.S., underscoring how the company is tailoring pricing to deepen its attain in the nation.

That strong iPhone year got here against a market that has largely stopped rising. India is about to log its fourth straight year at about the same cargo level of 152 million items, Counterpoint estimates, with the October–December quarter down 8–10% year-over-year despite the festive season.

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Longer alternative cycles, fewer feature telephone customers upgrading to smartphones, and the rising recognition of refurbished devices are among the key causes the market has struggled to develop, Pathak told TechCrunch.

Even as general shipments stagnated, India’s premium phase continued to develop. Smartphones priced above ₹30,000 (round $327) grew 15% year-over-year in 2025 and accounted for a document 23% of complete shipments — the highest share ever — according to Counterpoint.

That shift has helped manufacturers with stronger premium portfolios, including Apple, acquire floor even as the mass market slowed.

By quantity, China’s Vivo led India’s smartphone market in 2025 with a 23% share of shipments, per Counterpoint, adopted by Samsung at 15% and Xiaomi at 13%.

Apple remained exterior India’s top three by shipments despite its document year, underlining how the market is still dominated by mass-market Android manufacturers even as premium devices take a rising share.

Counterpoint expects India’s smartphone market to slide about 2% in 2026, warning that rising reminiscence costs may squeeze demand in the sub-₹15,000 (under-$170) phase and power telephone makers to chop cashback affords, trim specs or elevate costs. Even so, common promoting costs are forecast to rise 5% in 2026 after a 9% improve in 2025, suggesting the premiumization pattern is about to continue.

Apple didn’t reply to a request for remark.

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