iPhone 16 tops shipment in India as the country’s smartphone market hits 5-year high
Apple climbed to fourth place among all smartphone brands in India for the first time.
• India’s smartphone market hit a five-year high of 48 million units in Q3 2025, up 4.3% year-over-year.
• The iPhone 16 became the most-shipped smartphone in India, a first for Apple in the market.
• Premium segment grew thanks to Apple, even as entry-level demand weakens.
• Total smartphone shipments for 2025 forecasted to dip below 150 million units despite the record festive quarter.
For years, India was one of the markets that eluded Apple, too price-sensitive, too Android-heavy, too unpredictable. But that is changing. In the third quarter of 2025, the iPhone 16 became the most-shipped smartphone in India, a milestone that once seemed improbable in a market built on affordability.
Apple shipped a record 5 million iPhones during the quarter, securing fourth place among all smartphone brands for the first time. The comapny with a niche success story confined to the premium segment is now expanding into the broader market.
Apple’s success came amid a record quarter for India’s smartphone industry. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India’s smartphone market reached a five-year high in Q3 2025, growing 4.3% year-over-year to 48 million units.
The festive season fueled the surge, with attractive pricing, flexible financing, and deep discounting across both online and offline channels driving demand. Trade-in offers, cashback deals, and aggressive upgrade programs turned the months leading up to Diwali into a nationwide upgrade spree.
The offline channel particularly had a strong showing. Shipments through physical stores rose nearly 22% year-over-year, expanding their share to 56%, as festive deals and financing schemes brought shoppers back in person. Online channels, meanwhile, fell 12%, reflecting the slowdown in entry-level Android demand and the growing offline preference for premium upgrades.
At the same time, a growing appetite for premium and super-premium smartphones, categories where Apple dominate, drove the surge in the quarter. While premium smartphones carried the market forward, weaker demand for entry-level Android models acted as a brake. Rising component costs and higher average selling prices made budget devices less appealing to first-time buyers, dampening volumes in the sub-$200 range.
In effect, the market’s expansion was a balancing act, propelled by affluent consumers moving up the value chain, but partially offset by slowing momentum at the bottom.
MORE INSIGHTS ON THIS TOPIC:
- Apple Leaps to the Second Spot In China's Smartphone Market
- Smartphone shipments climb in Q3 2025 as consumer excitement returns
- Apple Delivers Record Quarter as iPhone 17 and Services Drive Growth
Apple’s India Strategy
Within that backdrop, Apple stood out. The iPhone 16 alone accounted for 5% of all smartphone shipments in India, maintaining strong demand even as the company rolled out the iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air. Together, those launches marked Apple’s best debut quarter for new models since 2021, underscoring the depth of the brand’s appeal in a maturing market.
Apple’s surge in India is no coincidence. It’s the product of a deliberate, multi-layered strategy. Over the past two years, Apple has made India a strategic priority, carving it out as a dedicated sales region with greater local autonomy. That move has allowed Apple to respond faster to local market conditions, from pricing strategies to product mix, and to operate with the agility it typically reserves for its most mature markets.
The launch of its first flagship stores in Mumbai and Delhi in 2023 marked a turning point, creating experiential hubs that embody the brand. These physical stores, backed by Apple’s direct online channel, give the company end-to-end control of how customers discover, purchase, and upgrade their devices.
Just as crucially, Apple has expanded access without diluting its premium positioning. Its trade-in and financing programs, paired with exclusive bank partnerships, have lowered the entry barrier for aspirational buyers.
Meanwhile, India’s growing role in Apple’s manufacturing ecosystem, supported by the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, has made local assembly a strategic advantage. By producing more iPhones domestically, Apple has reduced import costs and improved pricing flexibility, bringing its flagship devices closer to local affordability thresholds.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
Market Performance
As Apple solidified its position, the rest of the market continued to evolve.
The entry-level segment (below $100) grew an impressive 35% year-over-year, led by Xiaomi, realme, and vivo, but that recovery was not enough to offset the broader slowdown in the mass-budget category ($100–$200), which fell nearly 9%. The entry-premium tier ($200–$400) softened as well, as many buyers either jumped up to higher-end devices or held off amid price fluctuations. By contrast, the mid-premium segment ($400–$600) grew about 10%, driven by Samsung’s Galaxy S24 promotions, while the premium ($600–$800) and super-premium ($800+) brackets surged 43% and 53% respectively, both dominated by Apple’s iPhone lineup.
Brand Performance
Among brands, vivo retained the top spot for the seventh straight quarter, supported by a balanced presence across price bands and channels. OPPO climbed to second, overtaking Samsung through aggressive retail incentives.
Motorola posted the highest year-over-year growth at 52%, while Apple’s 25.6% rise underscored the strength of its premium strategy in a market where overall growth was still modest.
Looking Ahead
Analysts caution that the momentum may not last into the year’s final quarter. “Aggressive promotions and flexible financing drove strong shipment volumes in Q3, but mass-market demand remains weak,” said Upasana Joshi, Senior Research Manager at IDC Asia Pacific.
With inventory building and component costs climbing, IDC forecasts that overall smartphone shipments in 2025 will dip below 150 million units, marking a slight annual contraction despite the record-breaking festive quarter.
Overall, Apple’s iPhone 16’s unexpected status as the most-shipped phone is the clearest evidence yet of a market rapidly moving from price-driven volume to premium aspiration. Consumers are moving up the value chain, vendors are rethinking their playbooks, and India itself is becoming a proving ground for premium brands.
