‘Made in India’ iPhone 17 drives record interest for Apple

Apple’s iPhone 17 series has seen strong pre-orders in India, driven by rising local manufacturing, expanded retail presence, and a design refresh. The base model now offers higher storage at launch

New Delhi: The demand for Apple’s new iPhone 17 series is rising fast in India, with industry sources saying pre-orders have been stronger than last year.

The surge comes at a time when Apple has been steadily increasing its “Made in India” push, expanding both local manufacturing and retail presence in the country.

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Pre-orders for the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, which opened on September 12, have seen high interest across Apple’s online store, its retail outlets in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru.

Sources said Apple’s latest model has managed to create a strong buzz among Indian consumers, with the new iPhone 17 Air also attracting attention for its titanium design that is light, sleek, and durable.

Apple is betting big on India, not just as a market but also as a manufacturing hub. The company has been expanding its retail network to meet growing demand.

Earlier this month, it added two new stores in Bengaluru and Pune, timed just before the iPhone 17 launch.

Apple first entered India’s retail space in April 2023 with its flagship Mumbai store at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), followed by Apple Saket in Delhi.

Together, the two stores clocked around Rs 800 crore in revenue in their debut year, making them Apple’s top-performing outlets globally.

What stood out was that nearly 60 per cent of this revenue came from the smaller Saket store — showing the strength of Apple’s growing Indian consumer base.

This was despite the company already having a large network of premium resellers and strong online partnerships with Flipkart and Amazon.

The iPhone 17 lineup starts at Rs 82,900 for the base 256GB model. The new iPhone Air, designed as a slimmer and more premium version, is priced at Rs 1,19,900.

The iPhone 17 Pro begins at Rs 1,34,900, while the top-end iPhone 17 Pro Max (256GB) costs Rs 1,49,900.

This year’s launch also marks Apple’s first upward revision in entry-level pricing since the iPhone 12 series in 2020. However, the higher price comes with more storage.

The base iPhone 17 now offers 256GB, double the 128GB that came with the iPhone 16. On a storage-to-storage comparison, the iPhone 17 is actually Rs 7,000 cheaper than the iPhone 16’s 256GB variant at launch.