People with knowledge of the situation say that in the five months since April, Apple Inc.’s iPhone exports from India have topped $1 billion, a milestone that shows the South Asian country is making headway in its drive to become a power in electronics production.
Exports of the phones assembled in India, which are destined for markets in Europe and the Middle East, are expected to hit $2.5 billion in the 12 months ending in March 2023, according to the sources. Nearly $2 billion is nearly twice the $1.3 billion worth of them India shipped in the year ending in March 2022, the sources said, requesting not to be identified because the data is not public.
iPhone Production In India Is Slowly Catching Up To China’s
Apple Inc.’s iPhone production in India began that year. An early version of the iPhone, the SE was the first to be produced by Apple in India. Subsequently, Apple began producing its most cutting-edge handsets in India, including the iPhone 12, 13, and the newest 14.
Although India only accounts for a tiny percentage of total iPhone production, its increasing exports are a good sign for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal to make his nation a competitor to China as a global manufacturer.
As Xi Jinping’s administration contends with the US government and imposes lockdowns around the nation, disrupting economic activity, Apple, which long built most of its phones in China, is exploring alternatives. Foxconn Technology Group, Wistron Corp., and Pegatron Corp., three of Apple’s major contract manufacturers, all have factories in Southern India where they assemble phones. In accordance with a governmental program, all three of these factories were awarded financial incentives. No doubt about it, India has a long way to go before catching up to China. It is estimated by Bloomberg Intelligence that China produced 230 million iPhones last year, while India produced 3 million.