Apple on Friday reported a robust set of third-quarter results for the year 2025, achieving record revenues in over two dozen markets —including India— and signalling a strategic pivot towards higher spending in artificial intelligence and infrastructure.

The tech giant also flagged rising tariff costs and an increasingly uncertain trade environment as key concerns heading into the next quarter.

CEO Tim Cook, during the company’s earnings call, revealed that Apple experienced double-digit growth across iPhone, Mac, and services, with emerging markets such as India, the Middle East, South Asia, and Brazil making significant contributions.

“We saw an acceleration of growth around the world in the vast majority of markets we track, including greater China and many emerging markets, and we had June quarter revenue records in more than two dozen countries and regions, including the US, Canada, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, India, and South Asia,” said Cook.

Net profit rises 9.2 per cent

The company’s total revenue for the June quarter stood at $94.04 billion, up 10% year-on-year, while net profit rose 9.2% to $23.42 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

Apple also plans to continue its retail expansion globally. After recently launching an online Apple Store in Saudi Arabia, Cook confirmed the company is gearing up to open new physical stores in India and the UAE later this year.

“We couldn’t be more excited to open new stores in the UAE and India later this year,” he said.

But Cook also warned of mounting tariff costs due to shifting global trade policies. The company incurred approximately $800 million in tariff-related costs in the June quarter alone.

“The situation around tariffs is evolving,” he noted. “For the September quarter, assuming the current global tariff rates, policies, and applications do not change for the balance of the quarter, and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the impact to add about $1.1 billion to our costs. This estimate should not be used to make projections for future quarters, as there are many factors that could change, including tariff rates.”

His remarks come as the US government recently announced a 25% tariff on goods from India, among nearly 70 countries listed in an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump titled ‘Further Modifying The Reciprocal Tariff Rates’.

Meanwhile, Apple is preparing to ramp up its investment in artificial intelligence, an area where it has traditionally lagged behind tech rivals such as Microsoft and Google. Both companies are investing tens of billions in AI development, particularly in large-scale data centers.

While Apple has thus far pursued a more conservative strategy—leaning on outside cloud providers and focusing on in-house development for features like Siri—the company now appears ready to pivot.

“We’re very open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap. We are not stuck on a certain size company, although the ones that we have acquired thus far this year are small in nature,” Cook said. “We basically ask ourselves whether a company can help us accelerate a roadmap, and if they do, then we’re interested.”

He disclosed that Apple has already acquired seven smaller companies in 2025 alone and did not rule out buying a larger player in the AI space. According to reports, Apple executives have also discussed acquiring Perplexity, a startup developing an AI-powered browser—though this has not been confirmed by the company.

As AI reshapes the digital landscape, Apple may also revamp its Safari browser with integrated AI search features to mitigate potential losses from the multibillion-dollar deal with Google to remain the iPhone’s default search engine—currently under scrutiny in an ongoing U.S. antitrust trial.

Apple CFO Kevan Parekh confirmed the company is planning to increase spending on data centers, an area where Apple typically allocates only a few billion dollars annually.

“It’s not going to be exponential growth, but it is going to grow substantially,” Parekh said. “A lot of that’s a function of the investments we’re making in AI.”

As Apple navigates trade policy shifts, intensifies its AI push, and expands in high-growth markets like India, the company is signaling that it is willing to spend—and evolve—to retain its competitive edge.