: This time Apple set a precedent by creating a new history. Reportedly, Apple is the first company to set a record of exporting a billion dollar smartphone from India in a month. Not only this, this statistic has also made the “Make in India” program a success. In this context, Economic Times reports that the Cupertino, California-based company exported iPhones worth Rs 8,100 crore in December 2022.
In this context, Apple and Samsung are the leading mobile phone exporters from India. However, according to the official data, Apple has become the country’s top mobile phone exporter by topping Samsung.
Basically, iPhone maker Apple manufactures and exports several iPhone models including iPhone 12, 13, 14 and 14+ from India through its three contract manufacturers. Those three manufacturers are Foxconn Hon Hair, Pegatron and Wistron. The plants of these manufacturers are located in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Besides, they have also participated in the Smartphone Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme of the Government of India. Which was launched in April 2020.
Meanwhile, the PLI project aims to make India a manufacturing hub for smartphones and other electronics. As part of this scheme, manufacturers are required to submit production, export, investment and employment data to the government on a regular basis. Meanwhile, apart from these three major contract manufacturers, some smaller companies in the country are also exporting the iPhone. According to government estimates, India could export mobile phones worth USD 9 billion in the financial year 2022-23. Which was 5.8 billion US dollars in 2022 financial year.
In this context, the overall benchmark of iPhone exports of $1 billion in just one month has further highlighted the acceptability of the PLI scheme. Besides, the scheme has been extended to 13 sectors besides smartphones. Meanwhile, mobile phone exports could have been higher had Samsung’s unit operated at full capacity. Originally, the manufacturing unit of this South Korean company was shut down for 10-15 days for routine maintenance. As a result, both production and exports decline.
< data-lazyloaded="1" decoding="async" class="size-medium -519668 aligncenter" src="https://.com/wp-content//2023/01/iPhone-India-manufacture-1500x785.jpg" ="iphone india manufacture" width="1500" height="785" srcset="https://.com/wp-content//2023/01/iPhone-India-manufacture-1500x785.jpg 1500w, https://.com/wp-content//2023/01/iPhone-India-manufacture-150x78.jpg 150w, https://.com/wp-content//2023/01/iPhone-India-manufacture-768x402.jpg 768w, https://.com/wp-content//2023/01/iPhone-India-manufacture-1536x804.jpg 1536w, https://.com/wp-content//2023/01/iPhone-India-manufacture.jpg 1720w" data-sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px">
However, not only smartphone exports, but also electronics exports in FY2022-2023 have seen a significant growth. According to the Commerce Department data in this context, the overall exports of electronics products reached USD 16.67 billion between April and December 2022. Which is 51.56% more than the same period of the previous year. Also, between April and November 2022, smartphones worth more than US$ 6 billion were reported to have been exported.