On CNBC’s Inside India, I explore what Apple’s new CEO – John Ternus – inherits in India — a market that has quietly become one of the most consequential chapters in Apple’s global story.

Over the past few years, India has evolved from being a peripheral manufacturing base to a core pillar of Apple’s supply chain strategy, with production and assembly operations scaling up at a pace few anticipated even five years ago. That shift didn’t happen by accident — it reflects deliberate bets on India’s manufacturing ecosystem, policy tailwinds, and the broader recalibration of global supply chains.

But manufacturing is only half the story. I also examine India’s fast-growing premium consumer segment — a cohort that is increasingly willing to pay a premium for design, ecosystem integration, and brand experience, and one that has become central to Apple’s growth narrative in the country. As smartphone upgrade cycles lengthen elsewhere, India’s expanding base of affluent, aspirational buyers offers Apple a rare growth lever.

Taken together, these two threads — a maturing manufacturing base and a rising premium consumer class — define the inheritance facing Apple’s new CEO in India. I share my perspective on how these forces intersect, what challenges and opportunities lie ahead, and what it could mean for the future of Apple’s broader ecosystem play in the country.

I discussed these shifts on CNBC’s Inside India.