Far from hurting sales, raising iPhone prices has brought Apple growing market share in India, at least for now, and at least while it also has installment plans.
Analysts have predictably yet plausibly argued that higher iPhone prices and no base iPhone 18 would hit Apple's bottom line. That may well be true in most places, but a new CNBC report says it definitely is not in India.
Reportedly, the iPhone 18 Pro is seeing almost 20% more demand in the country than the iPhone 17 Pro at this point in 2025. "Apple's volume market share is likely to hit 10% in 2026," said Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak, "reaching double digits in a single calendar year for the first time, up from 4% in 2022."
On September 18 when the new models were released, customers traveled for hours to buy them at the Apple Stores in major cities such as Mumbai. Once there, some are said to have waited in line for up to ten hours.
Significantly, the demand is apparently not linked to the new features of the iPhone 18 Pro. Based on comments from customers at the Apple Stores, what mattered much more was simply owning the latest iPhone.
The now higher prices are affirming the iPhone as a premium and so aspirational smartphone. This Indian "premiumization" is not limited to smartphones, but Apple is benefiting from it.
And Apple is helping the situation through providing various financing offers. The base iPhone 18 Pro costs the equivalent of $1,700 in India, but zero-interest payment programs mean buyers can pay under 10% per month for a year.
Apple's sales in India have actually dropped in the June quarter, but that's reportedly because of supply constraints. Otherwise, sales have been growing for four years.
Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro comes with a variable aperture camera, but new features are not the reason sales are up in India.
The same can't be said for rival manufacturers, though, and particularly not for those making entry-level smartphones. The sales drop for those is said to have been acute since the start of 2026, although no figures were given.
If Apple gets the balance of aspirational purchase and zero-interest purchase plans wrong, it could mean the end of the iPhone as a status symbol. Then, too, there can always be a new status symbol.
There won't be one from Samsung, though, as Apple's main smartphone rival has consistently struggled in China. A Chinese rival is more likely, and at times phones by local manufacturers have taken market share from Apple.
If new features are not the priority for customers, then it's hard to predict when a sales bubble might burst. But one reason that Chinese brands have done well has been because of locals favoring them during the US/China trade disputes.
That may well happen again as the new US sanctions against Russia may affect that country's sale of energy to India. Then, too, there are reportedly boardroom disputes at the Tata Group, which is now a major manufacturer of the iPhone.
The Tata Group's iPhone factory was recently accused of contaminating local water supplies and came close to being shut down. Then it was also hit by a hack that exposed confidential Apple documents.
But then India, already a growing manufacturing hub for the iPhone, has recently introduced tax breaks to sweeten Apple's deals there.
And while it has yet to be officially launched, it appears that Apple Pay may finally be coming to India. If so, it's going to be limited to a few banks at first, which could even increase its status as a premium device.
