New Delhi: Apple has seen a surge in pre-orders for its “Make in India” iPhone 16 in the country as the company prepares to make its latest iPhone lineup available on September 20, trade analysts said on Thursday, adding that the new devices are set to break previous export records.
Ongoing channel checks suggest that the iPhone 16 Pro models are also seeing strong traction from buyers, owing to their more strategic and affordable pricing, compared to the 15 series.
The new iPhones will be available across Apple’s retail and online stores in India (Apple BKC (Mumbai) and Apple Saket (New Delhi)), along with the company’s authorised resellers, starting September 20.
According to Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint, there is strong pre-order demand for the base model of the iPhone 16 compared to last year and with attractive financing options, “the new 16 series is all set to break previous records.”
Analysts expect Apple to introduce a healthy mix of upgrades in the country this year. The momentum is great thanks to the government’s emphasis on local manufacturing, as iPhone 16 models are being manufactured and assembled in India and will be available simultaneously in the global market.
Prabhu Ram, Vice President of the Industry Research Group at CyberMedia Research (CMR), told IANS that Apple is benefiting from the strong tailwinds arising from the wave of premiumisation in the Indian smartphone market.
“The previous-generation iPhone 14 and 13 series will also gain traction in the holiday season,” he added.
Apple’s latest iPhone 16 is being produced and launched globally from factories in India. Driven by the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, the tech giant clocked around $5 billion in iPhone exports from India in the April-August period of this fiscal year (FY25).
According to industry data, this is a growth of more than 50 percent over the same period in the first five months of FY24.
The iPhone 16 Pro series benefits from a more strategic and accessible price point compared to its previous generation. This is expected to drive upgrades in the Indian market, making it more attractive to a wider range of consumers.
Globally, first-weekend pre-sales of the iPhone 16 series are estimated at around 37 million units, according to industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Meanwhile, Apple’s revenue in India is likely to grow 18 percent (year-on-year) in 2024 and the new iPhone 16 series would help the company further solidify its presence in the country, besides boosting its export numbers.
Apple has a 6% volume share and 16% value share in India. Double-digit growth is set to continue and revenue is expected to cross the $10 billion mark by 2025 in the country.
iPhone production in India has risen from less than 1 percent in 2017 to 10 percent in 2023 and plans are to increase it to 25 percent of global shipments by 2025, according to global investment firm Jefferies.
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