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

Apple’s iPhone is gaining crushed accelerated successful India, shipping astir 14 cardinal units successful 2025, based connected marketplace information shared exclusively with TechCrunch.

Yet the country’s wide smartphone marketplace stayed mostly level astatine astir 152–153 cardinal devices. That means that crossed the full-year of 2025, Apple’s marketplace stock of shipments roseate to a grounds 9%. This is up from 7% successful 2024, Counterpoint Research information shows, making it the iPhone’s strongest twelvemonth yet successful the world’s second-largest smartphone marketplace by volume.

The gains were driven by the iPhone’s merchandise portfolio, increasing aspirational request and wider availability crossed income channels, Counterpoint Research’s manager for devices and ecosystems, Tarun Pathak, said.

Apple has repeatedly pointed to India arsenic a standout marketplace successful caller quarters, with CEO Tim Cook saying the institution set an “all-time gross grounds successful India” connected its past net telephone successful October. CFO Kevan Parekh besides said iPhone’s progressive instal basal deed an all-time precocious successful India and the institution acceptable a quarterly grounds for upgraders, highlighting Apple’s propulsion to grow its idiosyncratic basal beyond conscionable caller buyers, though the institution did not disclose elaborate figures for India connected the call.

Beyond shipments, Apple has been widening its footprint successful India by ramping up section manufacturing and broadening its retail reach. Last month, the institution opened its 5th Apple Store successful the state — its archetypal successful Noida — arsenic portion of a broader retail enlargement that began successful 2023.

Apple is besides sharpening its services transportation successful India. Earlier this month, it introduced Apple Creator Studio — a subscription bundle of originative apps specified arsenic Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro — priced astatine ₹399 a month ($4.35) successful India. That’s astir 66% cheaper than the $12.99 a period it charges successful the U.S., underscoring however the institution is tailoring pricing to deepen its scope successful the country.

That beardown iPhone twelvemonth came against a marketplace that has mostly stopped growing. India is acceptable to log its 4th consecutive twelvemonth astatine astir the aforesaid shipment level of 152 cardinal units, Counterpoint estimates, with the October–December 4th down 8–10% year-over-year contempt the festive season.

Longer replacement cycles, less diagnostic telephone users upgrading to smartphones, and the increasing popularity of refurbished devices are among the cardinal reasons the marketplace has struggled to grow, Pathak told TechCrunch.

Even arsenic wide shipments stagnated, India’s premium conception continued to expand. Smartphones priced supra ₹30,000 (around $327) grew 15% year-over-year successful 2025 and accounted for a grounds 23% of full shipments — the highest stock ever — according to Counterpoint.

That displacement has helped brands with stronger premium portfolios, including Apple, summation crushed adjacent arsenic the wide marketplace slowed.

By volume, China’s Vivo led India’s smartphone marketplace successful 2025 with a 23% stock of shipments, per Counterpoint, followed by Samsung astatine 15% and Xiaomi astatine 13%.

Apple remained extracurricular India’s apical 3 by shipments contempt its grounds year, underlining however the marketplace is inactive dominated by mass-market Android brands adjacent arsenic premium devices instrumentality a increasing share.

Counterpoint expects India’s smartphone marketplace to gaffe astir 2% successful 2026, informing that rising representation prices could compression request successful the sub-₹15,000 (under-$170) conception and unit telephone makers to chopped cashback offers, trim specifications oregon rise prices. Even so, mean selling prices are forecast to emergence 5% successful 2026 aft a 9% summation successful 2025, suggesting the premiumization inclination is acceptable to continue.

Apple did not respond to a petition for comment.