Tech giant Apple has posted a record September quarter revenue of $64.7 billion with a strong performance across markets, including India.

“Geographically, we set September quarter records in the Americas, Europe and the rest of Asia Pacific. We also set a September quarter record in India, thanks in part to a very strong reception to this quarter’s launch of our online store in the country,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call.

In September, Apple launched its first online store in India — a market that is dominated by Android smartphones.

Apple, which competes in the premium smartphone segment in India with players such as Samsung and OnePlus, has been aggressively ramping up its presence in the Indian market.

The US-based company, in collaboration with partners such as Wistron and Foxconn, had recently started assembling iPhone 11 in India.

According to research firm Canalys, the tech giant’s renewed focus on India paid off with a double-digit growth to nearly 8,00,000 units in the region during the July-September 2020 quarter. “Apple is finally paying attention to India,” said Canalys research director, Rushabh Doshi.

“It has opened a direct online store, giving it several new angles in its go-to-market strategy such as utilising device trade-ins to provide purchase incentives, or bundling

AirPods with iPhones to make them more appealing. However, its new iPhone 12 family will be a tough sell in India this year, as network operators do not yet have the infrastructure for mass market 5G deployment,” he said.

A Counterpoint report had noted that Apple led the premium segment surpassing OnePlus even before its flagship launch, driven by strong demand for its iPhone SE 2020 and the iPhone 11.

India’s smartphone shipments in the premium segment (priced above Rs 30,000) was one of the least affected segments and reached its highest-ever share in the overall India smartphone market, contributing more than 4 per cent in total smartphone shipments, according to Counterpoint.