India puts a $38 billion price tag on Apple

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Apple is used to charging premium prices. Now India might be flipping the script and sending it a premium bill, possibly up to $38 billion.

Here’s the drama: In 2024, India quietly upgraded its competition law, giving regulators the power to base antitrust fines on a company’s global revenue, not just the money it makes inside India. 

For a company like Apple, whose business basically spans the entire planet, this is like switching from a parking ticket to a percentage of your life savings.

The case itself isn’t new. (Via: Apple Insider)

Apple has long been under investigation in India over complaints from companies like Match Group and several local developers, who say Apple’s App Store rules are basically a velvet-roped nightclub where Apple takes a 30% cut at the door, and forces everyone to use its payment system to get in.

Apple says it’s just maintaining quality and security. Developers say they’re being taxed for existing.

Sensing serious risk, Apple launched a preemptive legal strike by challenging the new law in the Delhi High Court before India even finalized any penalty. 

Apple’s main argument: it’s unfair to calculate fines using global revenue when the alleged misconduct only happened in one country. In other words, “Punish me locally, not globally.”

But here’s the awkward part: Apple loves being global when it’s collecting fees. It just doesn’t want to be global when it’s paying them.

India, meanwhile, claims its law is about protecting competition and empowering local developers. And maybe it is. 

But it also makes India look like a regulatory heavyweight that isn’t afraid to poke trillion-dollar companies. 

That $38 billion headline? It’s a great PR accessory, even if no one actually ends up paying for it.

There’s also a geopolitical subplot. India is positioning itself as a manufacturing hub for Apple, with parts of the iPhone 16 production already shifting there. 

At the same time, it’s flexing its regulatory muscles. It’s like inviting Apple to build factories while also threatening to fine it into orbit.

Meanwhile, developers are just stuck in the middle, watching two giants wrestle. Companies like Match Group want more freedom over payments and customer data. 

Apple wants to keep its services revenue engine humming. Regulators want influence. Everyone wants leverage.

Investors are observing because this isn’t just about India. If global turnover fines become trendy, regulators in Europe, Japan, or even the US might follow. 

And nothing scares markets more than rules that can change retroactively. Court hearings begin in December.