Apple stock steadies after India’s final App Store antitrust warning

15 January 2026

New York, Jan 15, 2026, 09:49 ET — Regular session

Apple shares barely moved after India’s antitrust watchdog said it might move forward even without hearing back from the company.
A distinct security proposal in India would force phone manufacturers to share their source code and maintain device logs, sparking privacy concerns.
Key upcoming dates: Delhi High Court hearing set for Jan. 27; Apple to report earnings on Jan. 29.

Apple shares ticked up 0.1% to $260.22 in early U.S. trading Thursday. Investors digested a new warning from India’s competition watchdog amid a long-running antitrust investigation into the App Store.

This warning is crucial now, setting a tight timeline for a case that might compel Apple to alter its iOS operations in India. The company has warned it could face a penalty as steep as $38 billion if fines are calculated on its “global turnover” — meaning its total worldwide revenue — instead of just sales in India.

A confidential order dated Dec. 31 reveals the Competition Commission of India denied Apple’s plea to halt the case during a related court challenge. “Such indulgence cannot be continued indefinitely,” the regulator stated, pointing to multiple prior extensions. Apple hasn’t replied to Reuters’ inquiries, and a source close to the situation said the company probably won’t comment before the Jan. 27 hearing at Delhi High Court.

Regulators in India are stepping up scrutiny on device security. Internal documents obtained by Reuters reveal a plan that would force smartphone giants like Apple and Samsung to hand over their source code — the software blueprints behind their devices — and retain device logs for a full year. Akash Karmakar, partner at Panag & Babu, slammed the proposal, calling the source-code demand “a massive step backwards.” Reuters

Apple’s subdued action coincided with a roughly 1.1% rise in the tech-focused Invesco QQQ Trust, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF edged up 0.6%.

In Washington, a coalition of women’s groups and tech watchdogs pressed Apple and Alphabet’s Google to pull X and its Grok chatbot from their app stores, citing concerns over illegal sexual content generated by the apps. “We are really imploring Apple and Google to take this extremely seriously,” Jenna Sherman, campaign director at UltraViolet, told Reuters. Reuters

Malaysia and Indonesia have already banned Grok due to explicit content, while regulators in Europe and Britain are pressing for answers. X declined to comment. xAI responded to Reuters simply with “Legacy Media Lies.” Apple and Google have yet to reply to requests for comment.

Shareholders are zeroing in on Apple’s fiscal first-quarter earnings report, set to drop after the market closes on Jan. 29. The company will hold a conference call at 5 p.m. ET.

The regulatory scene in India remains messy, with outcomes far from neatly priced in. Courts might clamp down on penalty calculations, and New Delhi could ease security rules following backlash. That leaves investors stuck trading headlines without a clear timeline.

Investors are set to focus on Apple’s move in the antitrust case ahead of the Jan. 27 court hearing in New Delhi. They’ll also be looking for clues on India policy risk when Apple releases earnings on Jan. 29.

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Khadija Saeed is a financial markets reporter at TS2.tech. Her coverage ranges from stocks and technology to emerging industries and developments across global markets. She studied economics and finance at the London School of Economics and worked in market research before becoming a financial journalist. Follow Khadija Saeed on Google News.

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