Apple has done something amazing in the Indian smartphone market. It’s now the top company when it comes to sending smartphones from India to other places, even beating its closest rival, Samsung. In just a year, Apple’s piece of the smartphone pie has gone up a lot. In 2022, they only had about 9% of the smartphone market in India, but in 2023, it jumped all the way to almost 50%.
Everything about Apple becoming India’s Leading Smartphone Exporter
The company’s rapid expansion and growing influence in India’s tech landscape are evident. The tech giant has now outperformed Samsung in terms of smartphone export volumes from India. In the June quarter, the company shipped a remarkable 49% of the country’s total of 12 million smartphone units, while Samsung, its South Korean rival, accounted for 45%.
Delving into the data reveals an astonishing trajectory for Apple. Its share of smartphone exports has surged from a mere 9% of the approximately 8 million smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2022 to dominating nearly half of the total smartphone exports in Q2 2023, as reported by industry executives. India’s smartphone exports reached around 13 million units in the March quarter of 2023 but slightly dipped to 12 million in the June quarter.
Apple’s impressive performance can be attributed to its concerted efforts since commencing manufacturing operations in India in 2017. This growth was significantly bolstered by increased production activity carried out by its contract manufacturers, namely Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron, starting in the second half of 2022. They ramped up production, focusing on manufacturing iPhone 14 and earlier models, both to meet the burgeoning demand in the Indian market and to cater to the export market.
It’s important to mention that Foxconn, a company that makes iPhones for Apple, has started making the new iPhone 15 in Chennai, India. This is a big step in Apple’s plan to use India as a place to send iPhones to other countries. Apple wants to do this because it doesn’t want to depend too much on China for making iPhones. This is especially important because there are political tensions between China and some other countries. iPhones are the most popular things that Apple sells all over the world. So, by making iPhones in India, Apple is making sure it has other options to keep making and selling iPhones, even if things change in the world.
