Apple’s Indian sales have reportedly jumped almost 50% amid a retail push in that country.
A report by Bloomberg News Monday (April 17) citing unnamed sources said the company had seen sales of almost $6 billion in the year through March. The report notes that Apple is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings May 4 and has indicated it anticipates a decline in its worldwide revenue.
To combat that drop, Apple CEO Tim Cook is headed to India to christen the company’s first brick-and-mortar stores in the country.
Apple announced Sunday it was previewing Apple BKC in Mumbai, named for the city’s Bandra Kurla Complex financial, arts and entertainment district. The store is due to open Tuesday (April 18), the company said.
“Apple BKC will serve as a dynamic space where customers can come together, explore Apple products and services, enjoy exceptional service, and learn how to get more out of their devices through free Today at Apple sessions,” Apple said in a news release.
According to the Bloomberg report, Apple — seeing tech demand diminish — is looking to India and its growing middle class as a chance to boost sales.
As PYMNTS reported last month, Apple has reportedly considered a major expansion in India, including possibly moving some of its iPhone production operations there.
Earlier this year, the company predicted a drop in demand for iPhones when it released quarterly earnings, a projection in keeping with a forecast from the research firm Gartner, which projected a decline in sales of smartphones and PCs.
The Gartner report was followed by research released last week by market research firm IDC showing a 29% drop in shipments of personal computers (PCs) during the first three months of the year.
“Weak demand, excess inventory, and a worsening macroeconomic climate were all contributing factors for the precipitous drop in shipments of traditional PCs during the first quarter of 2023,” IDC said in a news release.
Out of the five companies featured in the report, Apple took the largest hit, with shipments falling 40.5% during the quarter. Dell came in second place with a 31% decline.
“Though channel inventory has depleted in the last few months, it’s still well above the healthy four to six week range,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.
“Even with heavy discounting, channels and PC makers can expect elevated inventory to persist into the middle of the year and potentially into the third quarter.”
Despite rapid advancements in digital payments, healthcare transactions remain frustratingly slow and outdated. Patients accustomed to seamless digital transactions elsewhere are still dealing with lengthy reimbursement wait times and cumbersome billing processes. The culprit? Many healthcare providers still rely on legacy payment methods — paper checks, manual claims processing and outdated systems that create inefficiencies at every step.
This reliance on traditional payment rails isn’t just inconvenient — it’s costly. Research shows that 48% of healthcare providers still process claims manually, a factor contributing to rising payment errors and delays. Claims inaccuracies increased from 43% in 2022 to 55% in 2024, fueling a surge in denied claims and refund requests. Meanwhile, the rising complexity of healthcare billing is putting even more pressure on outdated systems.
At the same time, patient expectations are evolving. While just 39% of patients preferred instant healthcare disbursements in 2023, that number surged to 77% in 2024. Consumers now expect the same efficiency in healthcare payments that they experience when shopping online or transferring money digitally. Providers that fail to modernize risk declining patient satisfaction, delayed revenue cycles and operational inefficiencies.
The good news? Change is happening. Sixty-six percent of small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in the healthcare provider sector used real-time payments in the past year, and third-party platforms are accelerating the transition to digital disbursements. These innovations aren’t just streamlining workflows — they’re improving cash flow, reducing administrative burdens and enhancing patient trust.
In a time of rising healthcare costs and increasingly complex billing models, modernizing payment processes isn’t just an efficiency upgrade — it’s a strategic necessity.
The “Money Mobility Tracker®,” a collaboration with Ingo Payments, explores how healthcare’s reliance on outdated payment methods creates inefficiencies and how digital and instant payment innovations are streamlining financial operations, enhancing security, reducing costs — and, critically, fostering patient trust and satisfaction.