April bonanza for iPhone exports; value doubles compared to last year

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The apple might have led Adam to sin, but it is opening up the gates of manufacturing heaven in India. After an encouraging FY24 in terms of outsourcing from India, Apple has kicked off FY25 with a big bang in this country. Exports of made-in-India iPhones rose by nearly 100% in April to touch $1,10 crore (or Rs 9,000 crore) from $58 crore a year ago, The Economic Times has reported. The number is all the more conspicuous since April has no festivities in any major markets in the world.

The show appears impressive even when pitted against the numbers of China, the largest manufacturer of iPhones. Experts think at this rate Indian exports could easily breach the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in this financial year. They also said that 14-15% of the iPhone production has already shifted to factories in India and it could rise to 26% by 2026.

The curve exhibits a dramatic rise when one considers that exports worth only Rs 3,000 crore was recorded in FY21 before the PLI scheme was introduced. Exports were negligible. But the graph shot up in the next three years. The value of manufacture in FY22, FY23 and FY24 stood at Rs 16,000 crore, Rs 60,000 crore and Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

The US giant’s exports exceeded $1,000 crore or in excess of Rs 85,000 crore. It’s the highest recorded by any company in India in a single financial year. The export numbers are calculated on the basis of FOB (freight on board) value, which is the price at the factory gate. The retail prices are far higher – about 60% adding the trade channel margins.

In India iPhones are manufactured in three factories – Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. While the first is the biggest and is a Taiwanese company, Wistron has been taken over by the Tatas and Pegatron is also under negotiations by the same Indian conglomerate, which wants to increase its footprint in contract manufacturing. All are beneficiaries of the Centre’s PLI scheme. The three iPhone manufacturers and many vendors have generated more than 1.5 lakh jobs since 2021.

The distinction of being the top exporter of iPhones from India belongs to Foxconn, which is also the world’s largest contract manufacturer for this brand. It accounted for more than 70% of the Indian exports of this product. The rest are accounted for by Wistron (27%) and Pegatron (3%). Incidentally, Apple’s biggest competitor South Korea’s Samsung and India’s firm Dixon Technologies have also by and large met the PLI requirements since FY21, when the scheme was launched.

Though most of the iPhones assembled in India are shipped abroad, its market in the country si also growing fast – at more than 38% year-on-year.

However, Apple still has only 7% share (in FY24) in the Indian smartphone market. Riding the manufacturing muscle in the country, it is desperately trying to raise it to 10% and above. The five-year PLI scheme has just rolled into its fourth year. Mobile phone exports have powered electronics to turn into India’s fifth-largest export category. In FY24, it jumped 23.6% to touch $29.1 billion.