Apple reports its best quarter since 2021 but, where does India stand in this picture?

It was a rosy evening for Apple on Thursday as the company announced its third-quarter results for the calendar year. The better-than-expected performance helped restore investor confidence, which had taken a hit in recent quarters.

On Thursday, Apple posted its strongest quarterly revenue growth since December 2021, as the company reported a revenue of $94 billion, up 10% year-over-year. In the December 2021 quarter, the company saw 11% growth, while the quarter before that, it registered a 29% growth.

Mac sales led the growth, rising 15% YoY to $8.05 billion, while iPhone revenue surged nearly 13%. The growth in Mac revenues was the fastest among Apple’s business units, aided by the launch of updated MacBook Airs. The Services segment, which includes subscriptions, grew 13% to $27.42 billion.

However, iPad revenue declined 8% to $6.58 billion, despite the launch of a new low-cost model in March. The wearables segment also saw an 8.64% drop, falling to $7.4 billion.

“We are very pleased with our record business performance for the June quarter, which generated EPS growth of 12%. Our installed base of active devices also reached a new all-time high across all product categories and geographic segments, thanks to our very high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty,” said Kevan Parekh, Apple’s CFO.

Apple declared a cash dividend of $0.26 per share, payable on August 14, 2025. And, India emerged as both a promising market and a key supplier for Apple.

Net sales in rest of Asia Pacific excluding Greater China and Japan grew 20% to $7.673 billion from previous year’s $6.390 billion. This was the best segment for Apple as Americas and Europe grew only by 9-10%, meanwhile, Greater China and Japan saw less than 5% growth.

“Apple continues its strong growth in India, achieving another record-breaking revenue quarter with double-digit growth. iPhone captured 7% volume and 23% revenue share as per Counterpoint during the quarter and the iPhone 16 was the top-shipped model in the region, a key driver of this momentum,” Tarun Pathak, research director, Counterpoint Research tells Fortune India.

On the production front, while Apple didn’t share specific numbers, CEO Tim Cook noted that a significant share of iPhones sold in the U.S. now come from India.

“In terms of the country of origin, it's the same as I referenced last quarter. There hasn't been a change to that, which is the vast majority of the iPhone sold in the U.S. or the majority, I should say, have a country of origin of India and the vast majority of the products, other products, the Mac and the iPad and the Watch have a country of origin of Vietnam that are sold in the United States,” Cook said responding to a question.

According to Counterpoint Research, iPhone shipments from India accounted for 71% in Q2 of the total U.S. sales, a substantial increase from just 31% in the same period last year.

Yet, across other markets, China continues to be the key supplier.

“Still, the products for other international countries, the vast majority of them are coming from China,” Cook added.

This raises questions about how Apple truly views India. For Apple, India is still largely seen as a ‘China Plus One’ option, filling gaps where China cannot supply freely, rather than being chosen for its own cost competitiveness.

While manufacturing efforts are underway, Apple also announced plans to expand its presence in India by opening new retail stores later this year, a key step in its ongoing channel expansion strategy.

“In retail, we continue to find opportunities in emerging markets to connect with even more customers. We recently launched the Apple Store online in Saudi Arabia, and we couldn't be more excited to open new stores in the UAE and India later this year,” said Cook during the call.