India’s smartphone exports have reached a record $13.34 billion in four months, driven primarily by shipments to the US, signalling its growing role in global supply chains and Apple’s increasing manufacturing presence.
India’s smartphone exports have risen to a record $13.34 billion in the four months to July, according to government data, with shipments to the United States doing most of the work. The value is more than 31 per cent higher than a year earlier and reflects another sharp increase in Apple iPhone exports assembled in India.
The US accounted for about 70 per cent of India’s smartphone export value in the period, taking $9.4 billion of shipments, up 26 per cent year on year. July was especially strong: exports to the US climbed 53.8 per cent from a year earlier to $2.34 billion, equal to roughly two-thirds of India’s total smartphone exports for the month. Apple led the surge, ahead of Lenovo, which also ships handsets from India to the American market.
The data underline how quickly India has become central to smartphone supply chains serving the US. Estimates cited by the report suggest India could supply more than a quarter of the $100 billion US smartphone market this year. That momentum has continued despite concern that India might lose ground after a US court struck down the 20 per cent tariff on Chinese smartphones, a policy that had previously supported India’s duty-free advantage. Apple moved more production to India to benefit from tariff arbitrage, but India still carries an estimated 6 to 8 per cent manufacturing cost disadvantage versus China.
Earlier government and industry figures show how steep the climb has been. In April to July 2023, India exported smartphones worth $4.67 billion, with the US taking about a third of the total, and the country’s mobile phone exports passed $10 billion for the first time in 2022-23. The latest projection from the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association, endorsed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, puts smartphone exports at $36 billion to $40 billion in FY27, up from $29.3 billion in FY26. The government also expects 30 to 35 per cent of global iPhone production to shift to India by FY31, helped by a new mobile manufacturing scheme offering more than Rs 62,500 crore in incentives after the Production Linked Incentive programme ended in FY27.
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