Samsung Electronics and 15 Other Mobile Phone Manufacturers to Receive 6 Trillion Won from India

Most Apple-related companies except Samsung
No Chinese companies at all

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Sixteen mobile phone manufacturers and parts suppliers, including Samsung Electronics, will receive incentives worth 6 trillion won from the Indian government over the next five years.

On the 6th, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced that it had approved the introduction of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme aimed at fostering manufacturing within India.

This PLI, worth 409.5 billion rupees (approximately 6.47 trillion won), targets companies with factories in India that meet certain conditions. The PLI provides incentives of 4-6% on the increase in sales of mobile phones priced above 15,000 rupees (approximately 237,000 won) annually.

The companies approved by the Indian government include five global finished product manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Foxconn Hon Hai, Rising Star, and Wistron, five domestic Indian manufacturers, and six Indian parts suppliers. Among the global companies, most except Samsung Electronics are Apple-related firms.

The Indian government expects the approved companies to achieve production worth 10.5 trillion rupees (approximately 165.8 trillion won) over the next five years, with 60% of that amount being exported.

However, Chinese companies such as Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme, and Oppo, which rank high in sales in the Indian mobile phone market, were not included in the PLI. It is known that most of these companies did not apply for the PLI at all.

Samsung Electronics, which is fiercely competing with Chinese companies in India, is expected to gain further momentum in targeting the local market through this PLI approval. According to market research firm IDC, Samsung Electronics reclaimed first place in the Indian mobile phone market in the second quarter, combining smartphones and feature phones, with a 24% market share, surpassing Xiaomi and Vivo. In fact, Samsung Electronics is reported to have significantly increased local market sales recently following the easing of COVID-19 quarantine measures by the Indian government.