Apple outpaces HUL as India’s premium spending powers up

MUMBAI: India’s shopping cart seems to be getting lighter on soap and heavier on smartphones. In a striking sign of how consumer priorities are evolving, Apple’s India business is now projected to generate nearly double the revenue of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) in FY26, a dramatic reversal that captures the country’s accelerating appetite for premium technology and aspirational spending. According to a report cited by Moneycontrol, estimates based on Kotak Mutual Fund analysis and Avendus Spark data suggest Apple’s India revenue could touch a staggering Rs 1.42 lakh crore in FY26. By comparison, HUL long considered one of the strongest proxies for India’s mass consumption economy is projected to report revenue of around Rs 64,468 crore.

Five years ago, the picture looked very different. In FY21, Apple’s India revenue stood at Rs 22,845 crore, far behind HUL’s Rs 47,028 crore. But while traditional consumption categories grew steadily, Apple sprinted ahead, clocking a 6.2-times jump in revenue over the period and signalling a broader shift in where Indian consumers are choosing to spend.

The numbers tell a bigger story than just smartphones. They reflect the rise of premium discretionary consumption in an economy increasingly split between essential spending and aspirational lifestyles. From flagship phones and laptops to travel, entertainment and digital services, affluent Indian consumers appear more willing than ever to spend on experiences, technology and status-driven purchases.

At the centre of Apple’s India rise sits the premium smartphone boom. While India’s overall smartphone shipments have largely remained flat over the past five years, the share of devices priced above Rs 30,000 has climbed from around 20 per cent to 26 per cent. Premium smartphones grew at a compound annual growth rate of 5.9 per cent between 2020 and 2025, even as the broader mass smartphone segment declined by 1.2 per cent.

Apple has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of that premiumisation wave. By the end of 2025, the company held around 9 per cent of India’s smartphone shipment market but accounted for nearly 28 per cent of the market by value, highlighting the outsized spending power attached to premium iPhones. That 9 per cent shipment share also remained intact in the first quarter of 2026, underlining sustained momentum.

But Apple’s India ambitions are no longer confined to iPhones alone. The company has steadily expanded its footprint across laptops and tablets as well, with MacBooks and iPads increasingly finding favour among students, professionals and younger urban consumers. Wider retail expansion, financing options and discounts on older-generation devices have also helped make the Apple ecosystem more accessible to a broader audience.

And once consumers enter that ecosystem, Apple’s services business quietly starts working in the background. Analysts say the company’s growing installed base is now strengthening recurring revenue streams across subscriptions, apps and connected products turning hardware buyers into long-term ecosystem users.

The widening revenue gap between Apple and HUL also reflects a deeper shift underway in India’s consumption economy. Household spending patterns are gradually moving away from essentials such as packaged foods and household staples towards premium experiences, technology products and digital-first lifestyles.

In many ways, the comparison symbolises two different Indias colliding in the same balance sheet season one still anchored in traditional everyday consumption, and another increasingly driven by premium aspirations, digital identity and lifestyle-led spending.

For Apple, India is no longer simply a growth market. It is becoming a statement market.