Apple Inc.’s iPhone exports from India have surpassed $1 billion in the five months since April. This indicates that the South Asian nation is making progress in its attempt to become a major player in the electronics manufacturing industry.
According to the individuals, outbound shipments of iPhones made in India, primarily to Europe and the Middle East, are anticipated to reach $2.5 billion in the year 2023. The individuals, who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the data, stated that this is nearly double the number of iPhones that India exported in the year through March 2022, totaling $1.3 billion.
Rising exports bode well for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to make India an alternative to China as a global factory, despite the fact that India only produces a small portion of the iPhone. As Xi Jinping’s administration clashes with the US government and imposes lockdowns across the country that have disrupted economic activity, Apple, which has long manufactured the majority of its iPhones in China, is looking for alternatives.
Navkendar Singh, an analyst at the technology research firm IDC, stated, “The healthy growth in Apple’s manufacturing scale and exports demonstrates that India is gradually assuming an important position in the company’s China plus one strategy.”
An email requesting a response from Apple representatives was not immediately responded to. Before Modi’s $6 billion incentive push in 2020 compelled the US tech giant to get its suppliers to increase production, the Cupertino, California-based company flirted for years with the idea of making its prized iPhones in India.
iPhones are currently manufactured at plants in Southern India by Foxconn Technology Group, Wistron Corp., and Pegatron Corp., Apple’s key Taiwanese contract manufacturers. A federal government plan resulted in manufacturing incentives for all three.
India is, without a doubt, still far behind China. According to estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence, India produced approximately 3 million iPhones last year, while China produced 230 million.
People said that from April to August this year, the iPhone 11, 12, and 13 models were exported from India. Soon, the new 14 line will be exported. After a surprisingly smooth production rollout that reduced the time lag between Chinese and Indian production from months to just a few weeks, Apple began producing the iPhone 14 in India last month sooner than anticipated.
India is planning to increase financial incentives for tablet and laptop manufacturers in addition to smartphones in the hope of attracting other brands and luring Apple to produce iPads and MacBooks locally.
