In FY23, Apple’s iPhone exports from India increased by over four times year over year to reach $5 billion (more than Rs 40,000 crore), as the Cupertino-based company’s suppliers increased local production of its high-end devices in line with a rising push to establish the nation as a manufacturing powerhouse.
Experts claim that the Apple iPhone broke the $5 billion export barrier from India as the country’s first brand, demonstrating how quickly the corporation has expanded its manufacturing facilities here in recent years.
With support from Apple, India’s entire smartphone exports also reached $10 billion for the first time in a fiscal year, with Samsung accounting for between $3.5 and $4 billion in FY23, according to trade and industry data. According to business experts, India is now selling smartphones to even developed markets, such as the UK, Italy, France, the Middle East, Japan, Germany, and Russia. At the time of publication, Apple and Samsung had not responded to ET’s questions on exporting data.
Apple has been putting more emphasis on India as a manufacturing base, not just for exports but also for the home market, which is seeing an increase in demand for high-end gadgets.
India now produces 5% of all iPhones, up from less than 1% in 2020. India is the second-largest producer of iPhones after China.
On April 18 and 20, Mumbai and Delhi will host the openings of the Cupertino-based company’s first two company-owned retail locations in India. 2020 saw the launch of the company’s online store.
Top officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are anticipated to meet with Cook to discuss the company’s emphasis on iPhone manufacturing in India. Apple is looking at the idea of beginning AirPods manufactures in the nation in addition to iPhones, authorities told ET.
From their facilities in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the company’s three Taiwanese contract manufacturers, Foxconn (Hon Hai), Wistron, and Pegatron, now produce and export the iPhone 12, 13, and 14.
Estimates indicate that through the three manufacturers, iPhone shipments from India increased from Rs 11,000 crore in FY 21–22 to over Rs 40,000 crore in FY 23. The largest-ever monthly exports of iPhones from India occurred in March 2023, with sales comfortably exceeding $1 billion. In December 2022, the company’s exports had reached $1 billion.
According to officials and business executives, Samsung Group, whose rate of export development has been slower, has been the second-largest contributor to India’s expanding mobile phone exports, which have increased from $5.8 billion in FY22 to over $10 billion in FY23. In FY22, Samsung exported goods worth roughly $3 billion.
Thanks to the PLI plan, which aims to lure away electronics manufacturers mostly from China and Vietnam, mobile phones have emerged as India’s single-largest supplier of electronics exports. Apple intends to move 25% of its iPhone manufacturing to India by 2025, according to a JP Morgan study. In the next three to four years, according to government sources, this number will be at least 20%.
For more than six years, the South Asian region has continuously ranked among Apple’s best-performing regions. The firm reported record national revenues for the three months ending in December 2022.
In terms of volume, Apple has also been expanding its domestic market share. According to IDC data, Apple sold 6.7 million iPhones in India in 2022, compared to 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020.
