Apple's iPhone Exports From India Skyrocket To A Whopping $5B

This story was first published in the Benzinga India portal.

The export of iPhones from India by Apple Inc. AAPL has shot up to an impressive $5 billion in just seven months from April to October. This marks a staggering 177% increase compared to the same timeframe the previous year when exports were valued at $1.8 billion. This substantial surge has considerably boosted India's total smartphone exports, which hit around $8 billion in the same period, a noteworthy 61% rise from the previous year.

See also: India Loves iPhones But Gives Macs and iPads Cold Shoulder: Report

This dramatic increment in growth is largely attributed to Apple's increased manufacturing efforts under India's production-linked incentive (PLI) program for mobile devices. Now in its third year, this initiative has seen iPhones take over India's smartphone export industry like never before. An impressive 62% of all smartphone exports from India are now iPhones, a significant leap from 45% in FY23 and a mere 22% in FY22.

Apple's journey in India picked up speed after the company joined the smartphone production landscape with the announcement of the ₹38,645 crore ($4.66 billion) PLI initiative. Major Taiwanese manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron in Tamil Nadu, along with the recently acquired Wistron unit in Karnataka, are producing multiple iPhone models, including the 11, 12, 13, 14, and the latest iPhone 15.

For the first time ever, Tata Electronics, a local company, is poised to supply iPhones after buying Wistron’s assembly lines in Karnataka for $125 million. In the last fiscal year, Pegatron and Wistron mostly exported their iPhone production, while Foxconn, the world's largest iPhone manufacturer, produced various models, including the iPhone 15, for both the Indian and global markets. This indicates a significant shift in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and India's increasing significance in the global smartphone market.

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