iPhone 18 Pro demand outpaces last year’s launch | India Business News

Newly-launched Apple iPhone 18 Pros stand on display at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)f

BENGALURU: Early demand for Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro is outpacing that for last year’s iPhone 17 Pro, with premium variants and the Burgundy colour emerging as strong sellers, according to retailer and market checks.Counterpoint Research said initial demand for the iPhone 18 Pro was 15-28% higher than that for the iPhone 17 Pro, based on checks across 12 stores on launch day.“While it’s too early to share definitive sales figures, initial demand for the 18 Pro is outperforming the 17 Pro YoY,” said Tarun Pathak, research director, devices and ecosystems at Counterpoint Research. He said Burgundy and higher-storage variants were seeing strong demand. “Early feedback is positive, though we’ll need to monitor performance over a longer window once the initial launch hype stabilises.”Offline retailer Lotus Electronics also said its first batch of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max sold out in about two hours. Executive director Siddharth Chhabra said demand was significantly higher than during the iPhone 17 launch despite higher prices for the flagship models.Burgundy and Glacier Blue were among the fastest-moving colours, while Nagpur and Jaipur saw particularly strong demand. Chhabra also pointed to stronger trade-ins, particularly from customers upgrading from the iPhone 16 Pro and 17 Pro, aided by exchange offers and higher resale values.Quick-commerce platforms are also emerging as an increasingly visible launch-day channel for premium smartphones. BigBasket said it delivered more than 300 units of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max within the first hour of sales opening, or more than five devices a minute. The phones were sold through its electronics store, powered by Croma.Instamart told TOI that the Burgundy 256GB iPhone 18 Pro accounted for nearly a third of its sales in the early hours, followed by Glacier Blue. Bengaluru led demand, followed by Delhi. The standard iPhone 18 was the preferred model in Bengaluru, while the Pro Max led in Delhi.Zepto also told TOI that the Burgundy 256GB iPhone 18 Pro was its top-selling variant.