Apple clocks record June quarter revenue in India on robust iPhone sales

Three months after Apple opened its first two Apple Stores in India, its sales in the country has registered record June quarter in India on the back of iPhone sales.

During the April-June quarterly call, Apple revealed that the company had recorded an all-time revenue record for iPhone in India.

Driven by robust sales of iPhone, CEO Tim Cook said that the company is "pleased" with growth in the world's second largest smartphone market.

The top brass pledged to put its energies into tapping the huge opportunity that presents itself here, given Apple is still "very modest and (has) low share in this smartphone market".

On a specific question on the potential of India, Cook said, "You know we did hit a June quarter revenue record in India and we grew strong double digits. We also opened our first two retail stores during the quarter and of course it’s early going currently, but they are currently beating our expectations in terms of how they are doing".

Tim Cook's visit to India

The new stores in Mumbai and Delhi come at a time when Apple is trying to deepen its retail push in India, a booming smartphone market.

During his India trip, Cook had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, as he underlined the company's investment commitment to India.

Looking to replicate what China did to Apple's business in the last 15 years, the tech giant is eyeing India's massive market with an expanding middle class to power sales growth, and potentially make it a home base for the production of millions of Apple devices.

As such, India is also home to factories that produce 5 per cent of total iPhones as Apple diversifies its supply chains away from China.

India too has identified electronics manufacturing as a key priority area for its future growth ambitions, hoping to attract investments from global biggies looking to diversify their operations outside of China.

India hopes to play on the strength of its storied talent and skill base, vibrant market, and enabling policies to corner substantial chunk of new investments flowing into electronics and phone manufacturing as well as semiconductor production, redefining its equation in global supply chains.