While ensuring a push to expand manufacturing in the country and reduce dependence on China, Apple Inc.’s iPhone exports from India jumped by a third in the six months through September.
Expanding Manufacturing Network In India
People familiar with the matter on the condition of anonymity said that the US company exported nearly $6 billion of India-made iPhones.
This marks an increase of a third in value terms from a year earlier.
With this update, the annual exports are on track to surpass the about $10 billion of fiscal 2024.
It appears that the iPhone maker is expanding its manufacturing network in India at a rapid clip.
The company seems to be taking advantage of local subsidies along with a skilled workforce and advances in the country’s technological capabilities.
India is playing a crucial part in the company’s effort to lessen its reliance on China as the risks have grown along with Beijing’s tensions with the US.
The First Indian Assembler
So far, Apple has three suppliers including Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp., and homegrown Tata Electronics who assemble iPhones in southern India.
Out of these, Foxconn’s local unit is based on the outskirts of Chennai.
Also being the top supplier in India it accounts for half of the country’s iPhone exports.
For the April to September period, Tata Group’s electronics manufacturing arm exported about $1.7 billion in iPhones from its factory in Karnataka as informed by the sources.
Salt-to-software conglomerate acquired this unit from Wistron Corp.
It has become the first Indian assembler of Apple’s best selling product last year.
Here mentioned dollar figure refers to the devices’ estimated factory gate value, not the retail price.
So far Apple has refrained from releasing a comment.
When it comes to the iPhones, it accounts for the bulk of India’s smartphone exports.
It has also helped the product category become the top export to the US at $2.88 billion in the first five months of this fiscal year, as indicated in the federal trade ministry data.
Prior to this, the country’s annual smartphone exports to the US were a meager $5.2 million, five years ago, before Apple expanded manufacturing in India.
So far, the smartphone maker Apple accounts for just under 7% of India’s smartphone market.
This segment was earlier dominated by Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
Apple is making big bets despite being a small market for iPhones globally.
While talking about this, the mention of the subsidies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is must as it has greatly helped Apple assemble its pricey iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models, with better cameras and titanium bodies, in India this year.
Now, Apple is seeking to open new retail stores, including in the southern tech hub of Bangalore and western city of Pune.
