NEW DELHI: As India’s smartphone exports doubled in 2022-23, three countries – UAE, US and Netherlands – accounted for 52% of the exports in value terms. The UAE was the largest buyer with $2.6 billion worth of smartphones shipped to the country followed by the US, which imported $2.2 billion worth of smartphones from India, and the Netherlands at $1 billion.
India’s smartphone exports touched $11 billion in 2022-23, which is double that of the previous year. European countries were the buyers of over 45% of India’s exported smartphones. India smartphones reached over 50 countries across the globe. Though Apple iPhones accounted for close to 50% of the total exports in value terms, South Korean tech giant Samsung was the most exported brand in volume.
As per the Counterpoint Research, in 2022, Samsung was the most exported brand, contributing almost 69% of total exports volume. This year, the company is planning to make India its smartphone manufacturing hub. “Samsung is planning to expand capacity of its Noida facility and it is already working with local partners too for the same,” said Shilpi Jain Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research.
The American tech-giant Apple, which grabbed eyeballs lately, increased its export from India significantly from Q4 2022. Jain said Apple is increasing its ‘Make in India’ capabilities not just for domestic consumption but for exports as well. It plans to shift 25% of its manufacturing to India.
India has taken a giant leap in the smartphone manufacturing in the past few years, thanks to the Production-linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme. Many technology giants like Apple, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Lava have also set up their bases and expanded operations in India. Recently, Apple unveiled two retail stores in India. According to the IT ministry, mobile phone manufacturing saw a 66% rise to `45,000 crore within the first year of the roll-out of the scheme in April 2020.
“Samsung (73%), Apple (20%), and Xiaomi (3%) led the smartphone exports from India in 2022,” said Menka Kumari, Senior Analyst - Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR). Other players which exports from India are Motorola and Xiaomi.