iPhone exports from India have topped over $1 billion in the five months since April as the country continues its strategy of becoming a major electronics manufacturing hub for Apple . And according to Bloomberg, this figure will double in the next six months.
A future hub for Apple
According to the US newspaper’s sources, shipments of Indian-made iPhones to Europe and the Middle East are expected to reach $2.5 billion by March 2023, almost double the $1.3 billion in ‘iPhones exported by the world’s second most populous country in the year to March 2022.
While modest compared to China, the trajectory of iPhone production in India is a testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political strength and Apple’s willingness to invest in the country as an alternative to China’s hegemony. Chinese electronics assembly and the disruptive geopolitical issues that arise from it.
Apple’s growth in production and exports shows that India is gradually taking a prominent place in the company’s “China plus one” strategy, Navkendar Singh, analyst at technology specialist IDC, told Bloomberg. “And for India, this is a big sign of the success of its financial incentive program.”
Apple’s Taiwanese assembly partners Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron all have iPhone manufacturing plants in India, where the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and, more recently, iPhone 14 models are produced. Apple recently announced that it has started assembly of the iPhone 14 in India, while reducing the lead time between Chinese and Indian production from months to just weeks.
By diversifying its production lines away from China, Apple is playing a long game that won’t have a major impact on its supply chain for several years. Bloomberg recently reported that it would take around eight years to move just 10% of Apple’s production capacity out of China, where around 98% of iPhones are still made, not to mention iPads and Macs.