India Exceeds $10 Billion in Mobile Exports in FY22-23, Apple Leads by 50%

Backed by attractive government incentives for local production, India is all set to reach a remarkable $10 billion (more than Rs 82,000 crore) in smartphone exports in the fiscal year ending March 31, industry data showed on Wednesday.

According to the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), Apple‘Make in India’ smartphones now make up 50 percent of total exports.

Samsung ranks second with 40 percent mobile exports, while other smartphone players account for a 10 percent export share.

Smartphone exports from India have doubled from a corresponding period of last fiscal year, driven by production-linked incentives (PLI).

According to ICEA data, the top five global destinations to which India currently exports mobile phones are UAE, US, Netherlands, UK and Italy.

“Effectiveness and maturity of an industry are only judged by robust exports. Mobile phone policies and outreach initiatives are relentless and the results are before us,” Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA, told IANS.

“The mobile phone industry will exceed $40 billion in manufacturing output and 25 percent of exports to $10 billion is a great achievement,” he added.

Reports surfaced earlier this year that Apple, led by Tim Cook, will rapidly move some of its Chinese manufacturing to India and Vietnam over the next 2-3 years.

India will probably produce 45-50 percent of Apple iPhones comparable to China by 2027, where 80-85 percent of iPhones were produced in 2022.

DigiTimes research analysts estimate that India and Vietnam will become the biggest beneficiaries of smartphone supply chain migration from China.

India accounted for 10-15 percent of total iPhone production capacity by the end of 2022.

Apple became the first smartphone player in India to export $1 billion worth of iPhones in the month of December. It is currently producing iPhones 12, 13, 14 and 14 Plus in the country.

According to Mohindroo, the country is now moving in a different direction, “largely export-oriented and guided by the government’s performance-based scheme (PLI)”.

The government is also working to strengthen the electronic manufacturing ecosystem beyond mobile phones to increase its global share of hearables and wearables, IT hardware and electronic components, etc.

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