$6 Billion Export of Indian-Made iPhones from April to September This Year
Apple, accelerating its 'China exit' in iPhone production, has recorded a record-breaking iPhone export performance from India, Bloomberg reported on the 28th (local time).
According to sources, the export value of India-made iPhones from April to September this year reached $6 billion (about 8.3 trillion KRW), a 33% increase compared to the same period last year. If this trend continues, the export value of India-made iPhones is expected to exceed $10 billion (about 13.84 trillion KRW) this year.
To avoid risks caused by the worsening US-China trade conflict, Apple, which is moving away from China, is rapidly expanding its local manufacturing base in India, leveraging government subsidies, skilled labor, and technological advancements.
Currently, three suppliers?Taiwan's Foxconn Technology and Pegatron, and India's Tata Electronics?are operating iPhone manufacturing plants in southern India. In particular, the Foxconn plant located on the outskirts of Chennai is the largest local facility and accounts for half of the India-made iPhone exports. Tata Electronics' plant in Karnataka, India, reported exporting about $1.7 billion worth of iPhones from April to September alone.
The iPhone is driving India's smartphone exports. Five years ago, when there were no Apple factories in India, the annual smartphone export value to the US was only $5.2 million (about 720 million KRW). However, in the first five months of the 2024 fiscal year (October 2023 to September 2024), India's smartphone exports to the US surpassed $2.88 billion (about 4 trillion KRW).
However, the Indian smartphone market is still dominated by Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. Apple's market share remains relatively small at around 7%. In response, Apple, which opened its first stores last year in Mumbai, India's financial hub, and the capital New Delhi, is expanding aggressive marketing strategies and online sales.
Andrew Girard, Senior Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said, "The purchasing power and spending levels of India's middle class are increasing," and estimated that "Apple's annual revenue will reach $33 billion by 2030." Apple will also assemble the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models with enhanced camera performance and titanium bodies in India starting this year. Additionally, new stores are planned to open in southern hubs like Bangalore and western cities such as Pune.
Meanwhile, Apple announced the iOS 18.1 update featuring the 'Apple Intelligence' function and released the latest all-in-one desktop iMac equipped with the new 'M4' chip. The new iMac comes one year after the October release of the iMac with the M3 chip. This iMac applies Apple's latest system-on-chip (SoC), the M4. In the second quarter, Apple's Mac product sales increased by about 2% year-over-year to $7 billion, accounting for approximately 8% of the total second-quarter revenue ($85.78 billion).
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