Apple's India unit earned Rs 650 crore from software in FY26, up from zero
Apple Operations India's revenue jumped past Rs 1,400 crore and profit grew nearly four times, as its work for Apple's global companies grew.
Picture a shop that sold nothing but cricket bats last year. This year, the same shop suddenly earns crores from writing computer code for a big team abroad. Something like this just happened with Apple in India. On 26 October 2026, The Economic Times reported that Apple's Indian unit, Apple Operations India, earned Rs 650 crore from software development in FY26. One year earlier, this number was zero.
So Apple in India is no longer only about selling shiny iPhones or getting them made in factories. Its Indian unit is now also paid for tech work done for Apple's global family of companies. Here is the full picture, in plain words.
First, what is Apple Operations India?
Big companies often split their work across many smaller companies, like one big family with many kids, each kid running one job at home. Apple Operations India is one such unit. The Economic Times report says it is owned directly by Apple Inc., the US parent, and started doing paid business in FY25.
FY26 means "financial year 2026". In India, a financial year runs from April to March, so FY26 is April 2025 to March 2026. Think of it like a school session that starts in April and ends with exams in March.
This unit is different from the company that sells iPhones and MacBooks in India. That one is called Apple India. Apple Operations India works mostly for other Apple companies, not for shoppers.
The big numbers, one by one
All these numbers come from the unit's yearly papers filed with the Registrar of Companies, or RoC. The RoC is a government office where every company must file its accounts each year, a bit like a report card that anyone can check.
- Software development: Rs 650 crore in FY26, up from nothing in FY25, as exchange4media also reported.
- Manufacturing support: Rs 520 crore, nearly double the Rs 282 crore of a year before.
- Total revenue: over Rs 1,400 crore, up from Rs 318 crore in FY25.
- Net profit: Rs 103 crore, up from Rs 28 crore. That is nearly four times.
Revenue is all the money a company brings in from its work. Profit is what is left after paying every cost. If a samosa stall sells samosas worth Rs 1,000 in a day and spends Rs 700 on potatoes, oil, rent and helpers, its revenue is Rs 1,000 and its profit is Rs 300.
What does "software development" mean here?
Software development simply means writing and improving the code that makes apps, phones and computer systems work. Every app on a phone, from a cricket score app to a UPI payment app, is built by software developers.
Going from zero to Rs 650 crore in one year is a giant leap. On its own, software work now makes up almost half of the unit's total revenue. The filings name the main activities as manufacturing support, global support services, procurement support, software development and project management for group companies, says the ET report.
Procurement means buying the things a company needs, like parts and materials. Project management means planning a big task and keeping it on time, like a school captain who makes sure every group finishes its part of the science project before the deadline.
Who is paying for all this work?
Here is the twist. About 97% of the unit's business was done for Apple's own global companies, including Apple Operations International and Apple Inc., according to the filings quoted by India Today.
Think of a family where the elder sister is great at maths. Her cousins in other cities pay her pocket money to help with their homework. Most of her "income" comes from family, not from strangers. Apple Operations India works in a similar way: the money comes mostly from other Apple companies around the world, which pay the Indian team for its work.
India Today points out the meaning of this: the Indian team is not just building software for the local market. The unit is plugged straight into Apple's worldwide systems.
Is India becoming Apple's engineering base?
Mohit Yadav, founder of the business data firm AltInfo, studied these numbers. He told The Economic Times: "These transactions suggest Apple may be positioning Apple Operations India as a major global engineering and support hub."
He also said the growth appears to reflect a wider restructuring of Apple's Indian operations, rather than just normal growth from manufacturing. Restructuring means rearranging who does which work inside a company, like a cricket captain changing the batting order so the team scores more.
But there are open questions too. The exchange4media report notes the filings do not say which projects were done, how many people worked on them, or where the teams sit. They also do not say whether this is brand new work coming to India, or work moved here from another Apple company.
What about work for young Indians?
Software, project management and support work is done by people such as engineers, project managers and support staff.
Still, the filings do not give a head count. So nobody can say from these papers how many people work at Apple Operations India today. The next yearly filing may tell more, as exchange4media notes.
This NDTV video shows Apple's new office space in Bengaluru, one sign of the company's growing footprint in India.
The bigger Apple story in India
The sales side is booming too. Apple India, the company that sells Apple products here, earned Rs 1,04,607 crore in FY26, up from Rs 79,060 crore in FY25, as per data from Tofler quoted by India Today. Its net profit rose 66% to Rs 5,311 crore.
Apple also runs its own shops here now. Its first Indian store, Apple BKC in Mumbai, opened on 18 April 2023, and Apple Saket in Delhi followed on 20 April 2023, as Apple announced. This Business Today video shows the opening day in Mumbai.
Why should a young Indian care?
For years, India was known mostly as a place where Apple sells phones and gets them made. These new numbers show Apple's Indian unit earning crores from software and support work for one of the world's best known tech brands.
For a student who dreams of writing code for famous apps, the message is simple. Global tech work is not only in faraway countries. These filings show some of it now being billed from an Apple unit in India.
Sources
- ET Manufacturing: Apple reports Rs 650 crore India software revenue in FY26
- exchange4media: Apple India's software revenue hits Rs 650 crore in FY26
- India Today: Apple is no longer just selling iPhones in India
- Apple Newsroom: Apple BKC opens April 18 and Apple Saket opens April 20
- Cover photo: Apple Store, Pacific Centre (Vancouver, Canada), by Northwest, CC BY-SA 4.0
You may republish this story under CC BY 4.0: credit Manpreet Kaur and link to this page.