Once bitten, never shy: India’s Apple iPhone obsession grows and grows

Some Apple fans in India were willing to spend the night outside a store for a phone that costs upwards of Rs 1.6 lakh. As the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max went on sale on Friday, buyers began queuing hours before stores opened, with some reaching as early as 4 am.

There is something almost pilgrimage-like about an iPhone launch in India. People turn up before sunrise, wait in long queues and still leave excited to have the latest phone in their hands, even though the same purchase is only a few taps away online.

The queues, however, are only the most visible sign of a much bigger India story: Apple has crossed $10 billion in annual sales in the country, premium smartphones are taking a larger share of consumer spending and India is increasingly becoming part of Apple's global production and export chain.


Also Read: Apple's new trio in India- iPhone 18, AirPods & Watch

From an aspirational phone to a premium habit

For years, the iPhone in India was largely a premium aspiration. Its price kept it well above the mass market, where cheaper Android phones dominated.

That equation has been changing as India's smartphone market itself moves up the price ladder.

As per IDC, smartphone shipments in India fell 4.1% year-on-year to 31 million units in the first quarter of 2026. Yet the market grew 5.8% in value terms and the average selling price climbed 10.4% to a record $302.

In other words, Indians bought fewer smartphones, but spent more on the phones they did buy.

Counterpoint Research's latest data reinforces the shift. Premium smartphones accounted for a record 29% of India's smartphone market in the first half of 2026, with Apple and Samsung leading the segment.

Apple's numbers show why this matters. It had a 9% share of smartphone shipments in Q1 2026, according to IDC, but a much larger 28% share of the market by value.

Also Read: Apple Pay set for India launch next month with Axis Bank credit cards: Sources

That is the iPhone's India advantage: it does not need to sell the most phones to capture a disproportionate share of the money being spent on them.

Retailers are seeing that appetite translate into actual demand. “As in the past, Reliance Digital witnessed strong demand for customers for the latest iPhone too, driven by consumer upgrade cycles and attractive financing options, sources told ET Online.”

Indians are becoming more selective, then spending more

The iPhone craze also needs to be read alongside a less glamorous consumer trend: people are becoming more selective about when they replace their smartphones.

IDC's data shows the overall market is under pressure even as average selling prices rise. That means the premiumisation story is not simply about consumers buying new phones more frequently. It is also about spending more when they do upgrade.

For Apple, that creates an important opportunity. The company does not necessarily need an Indian consumer to buy a new iPhone every year. It needs to remain the phone that consumer wants when they are finally ready to replace an older device.

That helps explain why the latest iPhone can generate extraordinary launch-day excitement even when annual unit growth is not a straight line.

The result is a consumer who may be more selective about the upgrade, but is still willing to spend more when the product feels worth it.

The Rs 1.6 lakh question

The latest iPhone 18 Pro starts at Rs 1,64,900 in India, while the Pro Max starts at Rs 1,79,900.

For a product at that price, financing and exchange have become important parts of the purchase equation. Consumers can combine EMIs, exchange value and bank offers to reduce the immediate cost of upgrading.

That does not mean Indian buyers have stopped caring about price. Quite the opposite.

IDC's data suggests that rising component costs have also pushed up prices at the lower end of the smartphone market, meaning some of the shift towards premium devices is being driven by a broader increase in handset prices.

For an iPhone buyer, however, the calculation can be different: pay more upfront, keep the device for several years and get the performance, camera and ecosystem they want.

Apple has built a much bigger India business

The change in consumer behaviour has translated into a much bigger business for Apple.

Apple crossed $10 billion in annual sales in India in FY26 for the first time, with revenue growing at a double-digit rate from about $9 billion a year earlier. The iPhone accounted for the bulk of those sales, while demand for iPads and MacBooks also increased.

Apple has also expanded its direct retail footprint, with six stores now operating in India.

But the company's India story is no longer confined to what happens at those stores. The bigger shift is happening behind the product.

The latest Pro iPhone is now being made in India

There's another twist to India's iPhone story: the latest and most expensive Pro models are now part of the country's launch-day manufacturing run.

Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are being made in India by Foxconn and Tata Electronics, with production running round the clock and units being shipped to the US and other overseas markets ahead of the global launch, according to an ET report.

For the first time, India-made Pro and Pro Max models are reaching global shelves from day one. Last year, India-made iPhone 17 base models were available globally at launch, but the Pro and Pro Max models followed later.

The shift is particularly significant because it is happening with the Pro models, the higher-priced end of Apple's lineup, rather than only older or entry-level variants.

For years, India was primarily a market for the iPhone. Over time, it became part of Apple's manufacturing network. Now, it is increasingly becoming a place where Apple can make its newest phones for the world.

And there is a neat symmetry to what is happening on launch day. While Indian consumers are lining up outside Apple stores to get their hands on the latest iPhone, the same generation of phone is leaving Indian factories on its way to customers overseas.

From making phones for India to making them for the world

The iPhone's rise in India is happening alongside a much broader transformation in the country's mobile-phone industry.

Government data shows mobile-phone exports have risen from Rs 1,566 crore in FY15 to Rs 2.60 lakh crore in FY26. Over the same period, mobile-phone production jumped from Rs 18,900 crore to Rs 6.27 lakh crore. Mobile phones have gone from the 153rd-largest export item in FY15 to India's largest export product in FY26.

The more interesting shift is not simply how many phones India makes. It is what kind of phones India is now making.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max entering global launch-day production in India means the country is increasingly participating in the production of Apple's newest and highest-value devices, rather than only serving as a market or a later-stage manufacturing location.

The iPhone as India's electronics poster boy?

Apple's manufacturing expansion did not happen in isolation. It came as India was deliberately trying to pull global electronics companies into the country and build scale.

The Production Linked Incentive scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing has been an important part of that expansion. As of March 31, 2026, the scheme had attracted more than Rs 20,600 crore in cumulative investment, while cumulative production crossed Rs 11.62 lakh crore and exports exceeded Rs 6.53 lakh crore, according to the government.

Apple and its suppliers have been among the most visible companies scaling production as that ecosystem has expanded.

But the policy push is now moving beyond finished-phone assembly. Electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has described the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme as a move “beyond assembly” towards domestic manufacturing of critical components and essential raw materials.

As of August, 106 projects had been approved under the scheme, involving Rs 69,548 crore of investment, with 38 plants already manufacturing.

That is the next layer of India's electronics ambition: not just assembling more phones, but building more of the components, materials and supply chains that go into them.

And the craze may have another chapter

Apple's first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, is due to arrive in India next month. It starts at Rs 2,99,900 for the 256GB model, while the 2TB version costs Rs 4,44,900. Unlike the Pro models, the Duo is currently not made in India.

For Apple, the significance of India is therefore expanding on two fronts at once. The country is becoming a bigger market for expensive devices while also becoming a more important production and export base for the same products.

The iPhone 18 launch puts both stories on display at the same time.