India’s smartphone exports have set a new record by crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in the first five months of FY 2025-26. This is a growth of 55% compared to last year, when the same figure was Rs 64,500 crore.
According to industry sources, Apple’s contract manufacturers Tata Electronics and Foxconn have made the biggest contribution to the total exports. Together they have a share of around 75% and have exported more than Rs 75,000 crore.
Benefit from PLI scheme
Apple has rapidly increased production in India thanks to the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Apple has started mass production in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and is currently investing most of its export capacity to supply the US in 2025.
In the first half of this year, 78% of the iPhones shipped from India to the US were made in India, while last year it was 53%.
India’s advantage between America and China
India’s share of US smartphone imports has risen to 44%, while China’s share has fallen from 61% to just 25% by mid-2024. Total production of “Made-in-India” smartphones has grown by more than 240% year-on-year (YoY).
India’s position in the global supply chain
Along with China and Vietnam, India has now become a major hub for global electronics manufacturing. Companies are turning to India to diversify their supply chains.
Samsung and Motorola have also increased the number of smartphones shipped to the US from India, but their pace is much slower than Apple. Motorola’s major production center is still in China, while Samsung makes smartphones mainly in Vietnam.
Big leap in mobile manufacturing
There are currently 300 mobile manufacturing units in India, compared to just 2 in 2014. In the financial year 2013-14, only 26% of the mobile phones sold in India were manufactured domestically, while now this figure has increased to 99.2%.
