Apple leads mobile phone category as India’s electronics exports jump 21.8%

Apple has emerged as the top brand in mobile phone exports from India. Alongside other mobile phone manufacturers, iPhone vendors led the country’s electronics exports, which grew by 21.8 per cent from April through August in the current financial year to reach $13.57 billion in worth. According to the latest data from the Department of Commerce and the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), iPhone exports covered a significant portion of the overall mobile phone exports, which accounted for 55.7 per cent of total electronics exports.

iPhone production in India is carried out mostly in southern states through three major Apple suppliers: Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata, which recently took over Wistron’s facilities. Their collective output of iPhone units represented 67 per cent, equal to about $5 billion, of total mobile phone exports in the first five months of the FY25. In the broader electronics category, iPhone exports contributed 37 per cent during the same period, per a report.

Apple currently manufactures all major iPhone models in India, including the iPhone 16. The company is also reportedly planning to begin the production of high-end iPhone 16 Pro devices in India later this year. The production capacities of Apple’s suppliers have increased significantly since the company first began manufacturing iPhone devices locally. The data has shown that Apple’s iPhone exports from India, worth $5 billion, accounted for 22 per cent of total electronics exports in the financial year 2022-23. The exports doubled to $10 billion the next financial year, with an increased share of 35 per cent of the total export of electronic goods.

According to government data, Apple is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, under which the government offers support to mobile phone companies for local manufacturing. Apple began the India production with the iPhone SE models but swiftly moved to assembling high-end devices at partner production lines, located mostly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The iPhone 16 Pro will likely be the next major device to be manufactured, even though the lack of delayed shipping dates in the Apple Store has indicated a slow demand for the model that will be key for the company’s AI capabilities, Apple Intelligence.