Apple Operations India has disclosed a significant expansion in the scope of its India business. In financial year 2025–26 the subsidiary recorded ₹650 crore of revenue from software development, after reporting no such revenue the year before, according to the company’s filings. The move indicates Apple is using its Indian unit for engineering and services that feed global operations, not only for manufacturing support or domestic sales.
What the accounts show
The filings state that Apple Operations India began commercial activity in FY25 and provides services across multiple functions: software development, manufacturing support, project management, procurement assistance and global support services. Total revenue from these activities exceeded ₹1,400 crore in FY26, compared with ₹318 crore in FY25. Net profit rose to ₹103 crore from ₹28 crore year on year.
Revenue attributed specifically to manufacturing‑support services reached ₹520 crore in FY26, up from ₹282 crore the previous year. The filings also make clear that roughly 97% of the subsidiary’s business was conducted for Apple’s global operations, including Apple Inc. and Apple Operations International, indicating the Indian entity predominantly supplies services to related parties abroad rather than serving only the Indian market.
Why this matters for India
- Engineering presence: The appearance of software development and project‑management revenue signals a move from India as an assembly and supplier base to an engineering and services node within Apple’s global structure.
- Value chain depth: Beyond device assembly and component suppliers, Apple’s disclosed activities now include higher‑value services — software work typically carries different skill sets, pay scales and intellectual‑property considerations than manufacturing support.
- Policy implications: The change affects how India’s incentives and targets for local R&D, employment and technology transfer are assessed, since services billed to global affiliates may interact with transfer pricing, tax arrangements and domestic capability building.
The filings do not identify the individual software projects, nor do they provide a granular breakdown of staffing, engineering functions or where the work is physically located. Nevertheless, the rapid emergence of software revenue within a single year is a material change in the composition of the subsidiary.
What the numbers say
| Metric | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue from stated activities | ₹318 crore | ₹1,400 crore (exceeded) |
| Software development revenue | ₹0 crore | ₹650 crore |
| Manufacturing‑support revenue | ₹282 crore | ₹520 crore |
| Net profit | ₹28 crore | ₹103 crore |
| Share of related‑party business | Approximately 97% for global Apple affiliates | |
Apple already has a substantial device production ecosystem in India through contract manufacturers and component suppliers. These new disclosures add an engineering and services layer to that presence and broaden the country’s role in Apple’s operating model to include consumer sales, retail, export‑oriented assembly, supplier development, manufacturing support and now technology services for global affiliates.
The filings stop short of revealing where the software engineering is performed, the products or platforms involved, or the number and seniority levels of engineers and managers working on these projects. They do, however, confirm that software work has become a significant source of revenue for Apple’s Indian subsidiary within one financial year.
For policymakers and industry observers, the shift underscores the evolving nature of global technology supply chains where services and intellectual‑work components can be located across jurisdictions. For Indian technology policy, the development raises questions about the conditions under which global firms allocate engineering roles to India, the interaction with incentives for local R&D, and the oversight—fiscal and regulatory—applied to related‑party services flowing between multinational entities and their Indian units.
