Apple continues to drive India’s mobile manufacturing growth story

NEW DELHI: As India continues to break all previous records on local mobile manufacturing, tech giant Apple is on course to surpass the FY24 figures of exports from India, reaching over Rs 50,000 crore (more than $6 billion) in the first six months this fiscal (FY25), according to latest industry data.

The iPhone exports from India surged to cross $10 billion in 2023-24 from $6.27 billion in 2022-23. Overall, the iPhone maker’s India operations reached $23.5 billion in value in the last fiscal (FY24).

Apple assembled $14 billion of iPhones in India in last fiscal, exported more than $10 billion worth of devices.

This growth is set to explode in coming years as India’s semiconductor market is set to cross $100 billion in revenues by 2030, driven by government initiatives like production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme amid robust demand to build digital infrastructure across industries.

Mobile handset, IT and telecom segments are leading the semiconductor industry, contributing more than 75 per cent of its revenues, according to a latest report by the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) and Counterpoint Research. This growth is driven by the increased use of social media, OTT platforms, affordable prices, accessible data, and the expansion of the 5G network.

According to industry experts, to achieve the goal of $500 billion local electronics manufacturing by FY30, the industry must prioritise export growth to emerge as one of the top three global exporters in this domain by 2030, led by mobile manufacturing.

After Apple, Google is set to manufacture Pixel smartphones in India, with plans to export the devices to Europe and the US. The tech giant will soon begin commercial production through partnerships with Foxconn and Dixon Technologies' subsidiary Padget Electronics. The company has already started trial production in Tamil Nadu with Foxconn, a major maker of Apple devices.

As per the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) data, mobile phone production surged from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated Rs 4.10 lakh crore in FY24, registering an increase of a massive 2,000 per cent, driven by the PLI scheme.