A BLOOMING COURTSHIP: INDIA AND APPLE HAVE GROWN TO SHARE A SPECIAL BOND. A LOOK AT WHY AND WHAT'S NEXT.

FOR APPLE FANS in India, September 9 every year means a late-night ritual of seeing Tim Cook say his signature “good morning” from Apple Park in Cupertino, California, as he unveils the latest iPhones.

- BY VIDHI TAPARIA

But this year's event was about more than just devices. Apple timed it with the next phase of its India retail push. Just a week before the September launch, Apple opened its first official stores in Pune and Bengaluru. It had a store in Mumbai and Delhi.

Where does India fit into Apple's global playbook, and what comes next in this growing courtship?

Will Apple find more buyers in India?

Apple is betting on it: This year, it unveiled four models of the iPhone 17 series, with a more powerful base model, the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and Pro Max. The base model starts at ₹82,900, featuring a 48MP Main Fusion Ultra-Wide camera.

Aside from the iPhones, Apple launched upgraded Watch collections with SE 3, Ultra 3, and Watch 11 series, and ANC-focussed AirPods Pro 3.

Navkendar Singh, AVP of International Data Corporation's India unit, says a little more than half of Apple's India sales come from iPhones, primarily the model just below the flagship, following major price drops.

This year, however, the story may be different, with iPhone shipments within India expected to reach 15 million, of which 20-30% could be of the latest basic model, the iPhone 17.

Why? The iPhone 17 is a major upgrade from last year, says Singh. The iPhone 17's launch also coincides with the replacement cycles of many users, particularly those who purchased the more popular iPhone 15 or earlier versions. Pre-orders are already stocked out.

“We maintain that two-thirds of [15 million shipments] will come from [the iPhone] 16 and 15. India is not a Pro or Pro Max market. The camera is better in iPhone 17, so is the screen and the battery, making iPhone 17 a much better upgrade, which will certainly do better than [the iPhone] 16,” says Singh.