'₹449 crore in interest': CA says banks, not Apple, cash in on India’s iPhone 17 craze

Amid of the iPhone 17 buzz, chartered accountant Nitin Kaushik has sparked a debate by highlighting an uncomfortable truth — Apple may be selling the devices, but it is Indian banks that are laughing their way to the vaults. 

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kaushik broke down the numbers behind India’s love affair with premium smartphones. “Harsh Truth: iPhone 17 isn’t Apple’s goldmine in India… it’s the banks,” he wrote. 

According to Kaushik, the new iPhone 17, priced at ₹82,900, could see around 1 million buyers in India. Of these, an estimated 70% — nearly 7 lakh customers — purchase on EMI schemes. While these schemes make the phone appear affordable, they also generate enormous interest income for banks. 

Kaushik’s math shows that with a 12-month EMI at 14%, each buyer ends up paying ₹7,443 per month, shelling out an additional ₹6,420 in interest. Multiplied across 7 lakh such buyers, Indian banks stand to earn a staggering ₹449 crore in interest alone. 

“Consumers think they’re ‘owning luxury.’ Apple makes the product, but Indian banks pocket hundreds of crores in interest. You’re not just buying a phone — you’re funding the banking system’s bonus pool,” Kaushik observed. 

The insight underscores how premium consumerism in India is tightly interwoven with the credit economy. For many buyers, the iPhone is less a symbol of wealth and more a reflection of aspiration financed by debt. 

Kaushik summed it up bluntly: “For most Indians, iPhones aren’t a status symbol. They’re proof of how banks monetise aspiration.” 

Industry watchers agree that the trend reveals a deeper socio-economic shift — one where luxury consumption in India is increasingly bank-driven, with lenders reaping massive profits by financing middle-class aspirations.