India has seen a notable rise in mobile phone exports compared to China and Vietnam in FY24. While both China and Vietnam experienced declines in mobile exports by 2.78% and 17.6% respectively, India surged ahead with an impressive 40.5% increase. Officials attribute this growth to India capturing nearly half of the reduced exports from these countries, indicating successful efforts to attract supply chain diversification away from China.
Central to India’s success is the smartphone Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at enhancing domestic manufacturing capabilities. This initiative has prompted major players like Apple to significantly ramp up production within India. Under the PLI scheme, key Apple vendors including Foxconn, Pegatron, and Tata-owned Wistron have expanded their operations, doubling production to US$ 14 billion and increasing exports to over US$ 10 billion in FY24. iPhone exports alone constitute 65% of India’s total mobile exports valued at US$ 15.6 billion, making a substantial contribution to the country’s broader electronics export sector, which surpassed US$ 29 billion in FY24.
Samsung, another beneficiary of the PLI scheme, is also poised to escalate its mobile phone exports from India, having already reached approximately US$ 3.5 billion in FY24. This highlights India’s growing stature as a pivotal hub for mobile manufacturing and exports, especially as global geopolitical shifts encourage companies to diversify their manufacturing bases.
