Apple's India-Made iPhone Exports Said To Cross $1B In 5 Months, Boosting Tech Giant's 'China Plus One Strategy'

iPhone exports from India surpassed $1 billion in the five months since April, revealed a new report. This comes days after Apple Inc. AAPL confirmed that it would begin production of its newest iPhone series in the country.

What Happened: Outbound shipments of made-in-India iPhones to Europe and the Middle East are expected to reach $2.5 billion in the 12 months through March 2023, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

See Also: Apple Is Bringing 5G For iPhone Users In India — But There's A Catch

The report noted, citing unnamed sources, that the number is almost double the $1.3 billion worth of iPhones that India exported this year through March 2022.

An email sent to Apple by Benzinga seeking comments didn't elicit any response until the time of publishing this story.

Why It's Important: “The healthy growth in Apple’s manufacturing scale and export shows India is gradually assuming an important position in the company’s China plus one strategy,” Navkendar Singh, an analyst at tech researcher IDC told the publication.

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While India produces just a small fraction of iPhone output, this comes as a major boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to push for local manufacturing. “And for India, this a big sign of the success of its financial incentives scheme,” Singh added.

This also comes as one of the biggest bets by the Cupertino-based tech giant on the world's second-biggest smartphone market after China.

Apple earlier confirmed to Benzinga that it was looking to produce its newest iPhone series in India.

“The new iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities. We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” said the company.

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