A shocking report has come out regarding Apple’s earnings in India. This report shows how rapidly the preferences of Indian customers and their spending patterns are changing. Now people are spending more money on expensive smartphones and premium gadgets. This is the reason why the earnings of the giant tech company Apple India are estimated to be double that of the country’s largest FMCG company Hindustan Unilever Limited in the coming time.

According to a recent report by Kotak Mutual Fund, the total earnings of Apple India can reach Rs 1.42 lakh crore in the financial year 2026 (FY 2025-26). In comparison, the earnings of Hindustan Unilever Limited i.e. HUL are estimated to be Rs 64,468 crore. This data is based on the information given by the companies and the estimates of Avendus Spark. In the last five years, Apple’s earnings have increased by a huge 6.2 times, which is much more than that of HUL.

Why are the preferences of Indians changing?

If we look at the figures of five years ago (FY 2020-21), the story was completely different at that time. At that time, iPhone maker Apple’s earnings in India were only Rs 22,845 crore, which was less than half of HUL’s earnings of Rs 47,028 crore. But now the tables have completely turned.

Kotak Mutual Fund says that this pace of Apple clearly shows that the dominance of rich and wealthy customers is increasing in India. A very interesting thing has been said in the report that Apple has achieved this position when it provides its services only to a very small and rich part of the country. In today’s time, buying expensive and premium products has become a trend, especially in the case of smartphones, this change is very clearly visible.

According to the report, there has not been any significant increase in the total number of mobile phones sold in the country in the last five years, but the share of premium smartphones priced above Rs 30,000 has increased from 20 percent to 26 percent. Between 2020 and 2025, sales of expensive phones have increased at the rate of about 5.9 percent every year. On the other hand, the market of cheap budget phones for common people has declined by 1.2 percent. This shows that there is a big difference in the spending patterns of rich customers and ordinary customers.

Apple’s dominance in the market

According to data from Counterpoint Research, by the end of 2025, Apple had achieved its largest ever share in the Indian smartphone market. Apple’s share in the total phones sold was 9 percent, but if we look at it in terms of earnings or value, then Apple had control over 28 percent of the entire market. Apple has maintained this 9 percent share even in the first quarter of 2026 i.e. the first three months.

Market experts say that when a customer buys an iPhone, he gradually gets connected to the entire ecosystem of Apple. Due to iPhone, the sales of other services of the company, MacBook and iPad are also increasing rapidly.

Apart from iPhone, Apple is also rapidly expanding its presence in India’s personal computer and tablet market. Experts expect that this year there will be a strong increase in the earnings of MacBook and iPad. The main reason for this is the increasing demand from college students and big companies, opening of new Apple stores and discounts on old models. As part of its strategy, Apple is selling old MacBook models at lower prices, due to which its sales have increased significantly. In the tablet market, iPad is facing tough competition from Samsung and other companies, despite this, iPad still dominates the expensive and premium segments.

Changing way of earning and spending

The report of Kotak Mutual Fund also indicates that the entire pattern of earning and spending is changing in India. The market growth in the country is now dependent on the rich class, which is spending money lavishly on expensive smartphones, OTT subscriptions, music concerts, traveling and digital services.

If we look at the data of the last two decades, the expenditure on food items in the total expenditure of Indian families has continuously decreased. Instead of this, people are now spending more money on things like mobiles, vehicles, house rent and entertainment. This change shows that the country’s progress and people’s aspirations are increasing, but at the same time the gap between rich and poor in the society is also widening.