Apple’s iPhone Exports from India Doubles in FY 2023-24

Posted by Written by Archana Rao Reading Time: 3 minutes

Apple’s iPhone shipments from India have reportedly increased to US$12.1 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year. The US corporation is also hiring more in India and plans to employ 500,000 people through its vendors and component suppliers over the next three years.

The export size of the Apple iPhone from India has doubled from US$6.27 billion in 2022-21 to US$12.1 billion in 2023-24, demonstrating the company’s strong presence in the Indian manufacturing sector. The overall smartphone shipment size from India stood at US$16.5 billion in 2023-24, up from US$12 billion in 2022-23. 

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According to a report from trade intelligence platform Trade Vision, Apple Inc.’s iPhone shipments from India increased dramatically in the fiscal year 2023-24 by almost 100 percent. The startling increase in its India shipment size – likely an outcome of domestic incentive schemes like the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Program – have contributed to Apple’s global supply chain expansion.

Becoming a favorable destination for manufacturing and exports

Among factors motivating Apple’s decision to establish its manufacturing operations in India was the need to diversify its supply chain, mitigate the risk of geopolitical instability, and capitalize on the country’s growing consumer market.

Moreover, initiatives like the PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing have incentivized companies like Apple to invest in the Indian market.

Successful sales of India-assembled iPhones in the American market will only encourage Apple’s pursuit of more global suppliers and vendors.

India’s PLI program was introduced in April 2020 to encourage domestic smartphone manufacturing. In October 2020, the government formally approved 16 businesses, including Samsung and Apple’s three contract manufacturers in India, as part of the US$6.65 billion PLI initiative.

The PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing, notified via gazette notification no.CG-DL-E-01042020-218990, shall provide financial incentives to boost domestic electronics manufacturing and attract large investments. The scheme shall extend an incentive of 4 percent to 6 percent to eligible companies on incremental sales (over the base year, i.e., 2019-20) of manufactured goods, including mobile phones and specified electronic components, for a period of five years subsequent to the base year.

In FY 2023-24, the US remained the largest importer of smartphones from India, with imports reaching approximately US$6 billion. Notably, iPhones accounted for US$5.46 billion of this total, reflecting a significant surge from the US$2.1 billion reported in the preceding fiscal year, and indicative that American consumers were in favor of India-manufactured devices.

Apple diversifying its manufacturing roots

In 2021, Apple made the strategic decision to diversify its manufacturing of Mac, iPad, and iPhone products beyond China. To strengthen its global presence, it opted to establish facilities in Vietnam and India, aiming to diversify production lines and boost iPhone and iPad output.

According to Bloomberg News, the US tech giant significantly expanded its iPhone manufacturing in India during fiscal year 2024, investing a substantial $14 billion in constructing iPhones. Currently, the company manufactures 14 percent of its flagship products in India, equating to approximately 1 in every 7 iPhones.

The surge in iPhone manufacturing in India is also credited to major Taiwanese manufacturers, Foxconn and Pegatron. Foxconn reportedly assembled over 67 percent of iPhones manufactured in India, while Pegatron Corp. contributed around 17 percent. Pegatron Corp. is reportedly in advanced negotiations with the Tata Group to transfer management of its sole iPhone production plant, located in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, by May 2024.

India has provided major incentives to Apple’s contract manufacturers under the PLI Program. Its leading contract manufacturers, Taiwan-based companies Foxconn (Hon Hai), Wistron (now owned by the Tata group), and Pegatron are set to receive over INR 44 billion (US$527 million) in incentives from the central government for achieving PLI progress targets in FY 2022-23. 

Under the PLI Program, beneficiary companies receive incentives a year after meeting the targets.

Though Apple is deliberately growing its global production footprint to lessen dependency on a single market, China continues to be the world’s largest center for iPhone manufacturing.

India reaping benefits of the PLI scheme

According to Rajesh Kumar Singh, secretary of the DPIIT, in 2023, the PLI Scheme led several large smartphone manufacturers, including Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron, to move their supply chains to India since 2020. This has had a cascading effect – increasing employment in the nation for high-end phone manufacturing and resulting in a 20-fold growth in the localization of IT hardware, including laptops and batteries.

Singh claimed that within three years, India was able to raise the value addition in mobile manufacturing to 20 percent. According to data made public by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the PLI scheme for large-scale electronics has led to creating 28,636 jobs and increasing smartphone exports by 139 percent since 2020. 

Conclusion

Apple primarily focuses on designing its products and developing the software that powers its digital devices. The manufacturing of its products’ hardware components is outsourced to various vendors.

The smartphone giant initiated contract manufacturing of its phones in India in 2020, with Foxconn being the first company to commence assembly operations in the country. In 2023, Tata Electronics acquired Wistron, and now it is actively establishing Apple’s largest assembly plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. 

(US$ 1= INR 83.36)

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