Smartphones Worth Rs 12,000 Crore Exported In May, 80 Per Cent Were iPhones: Report

In FY23, India exported iPhones worth $5 billion. Iphone is the first brand to achieve this milestone in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian delegation are expected to highlight Apple's success story during his US visit between June 21 and 24. ( Image Source :Getty )

Indian outward shipments of iPhones stood at Rs 10,000 crore of the total smartphone exports of Rs 12,000 crore in the month May, citing data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), The Economic Times (ET) has reported. In FY23, India exported iPhones worth $5 billion. Iphone is the first brand to achieve this milestone in India. However, in the first two months of FY24 alone, the iPhone exports from India stand at over Rs 20,000 crore ($2.4 billion). In the same period last year, India exported iphones worth Rs 9,066 crore.

According to the ET, Apple accounts for 80 per cent of all smartphone exports from India. The rest 20 per cent is shared by Samsung and other brands. Figures of May align with Apple's strategy of diversifying its supply chain and shifting away from China. The Cupertino-based tech major is also looking to make AirPods in India.

Bank of America in a report last week said on the back of the central government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, Apple may shift 18 per cent of its global production of iPhones in India by FY25. In FY23, this share stood at 7 per cent.

The report showed that within two years of the Rs 38,000 crore PLI scheme for mobile phones, passed in 2020, iPhone exports from India have risen to Rs 40,000 crore in FY23. It was Rs 11,000 crore in FY22. This is expected to accelerate further as it has already reached a run-rate of $1 bn of monthly exports since February this year. The ET report also said this might convince other US companies, including Tesla, to shift their supply chains to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian delegation are expected to highlight Apple's success story during his US visit between June 21 and 24. They will also ask more global firms to set up their bases in the country and will also focus on companies in sectors such as semiconductors, electric vehicles and critical emerging technologies to manufacture in India.