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Apple has become the first business to export smartphones worth $1 billion from India in a single month, providing a significant boost to the government’s “Make in India” initiative. According to the Economic Times, the Cupertino, California-based corporation shipped iPhones worth Rs 8100 crore in December 2022, bringing the industry’s total exports of smartphones to Rs 10,000 crore.
Apple and Samsung have been the dominant businesses in the export of mobile phones from India. But official data shows that Apple has passed Samsung to become the country’s biggest exporter of mobile phones.
Apple produces and exports many iPhone models, including the iPhone 12, 13, 14, and 14+, from India via its three contract manufacturers: Foxconn Hon Hai, Pegatron, and Wistron. These manufacturers are based in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and are members of the Indian government’s smartphone production-linked incentive (PLI) initiative, which was started in April 2020.
The PLI initiative intends to make India a manufacturing powerhouse for smartphones and other gadgets. As part of the system, manufacturers are expected to report to the government every month on their output, exports, investments, and job creation.
Other than the three contract manufacturers, smaller Indian firms have also begun exporting iPhones.
According to official forecasts, India would export mobile phones worth USD 9 billion in fiscal year 2022–23 (FY23), up from USD 5.8 billion in FY22.
The iPhone has become a symbol of the government’s ambitious PLI plans, which have been extended to 13 industries in addition to cellphones. Exports of mobile phones may have been greater if Samsung’s business had been functioning at full capacity. The South Korean company’s production plant was stopped for 10–15 days for routine maintenance, resulting in a drop in output and exports.
Not only smartphone exports, but also electronics exports, have significantly increased in FY23. According to the Department of Commerce, total electronics exports between April and December 2022 totaled 16.67 billion USD, a 51.56% increase over the same period the previous year. Furthermore, between April and November 2022, cellphones worth more than USD 6 billion were shipped.