Apple iPhone Exports From India Cross $23 Billion In 2025
NEW DELHI — Apple Inc’s iPhone exports from India crossed the $23 billion mark in 2025, the highest level since domestic manufacturing began in 2021, according to industry data. The milestone underscores India’s growing role as a global manufacturing hub for the US technology giant.
Exports during the January to December 2025 period touched about $23 billion, reflecting an increase of nearly eighty five percent compared with 2024. This surge comes as Apple enters the final stretch of its five year production linked incentive program window, under which the company has focused heavily on scaling up exports from India.
In the first nine months of the 2025–26 financial year, iPhone exports were close to $16 billion, taking cumulative shipments during the incentive period beyond $50 billion. The performance places Apple ahead of its closest global rival under the scheme. Samsung, by comparison, exported devices worth about $17 billion over its entire five year eligibility period from the 2020–21 to 2024–25 financial years.
Apple’s manufacturing footprint in India now includes five iPhone assembly facilities, with three operated by Tata Group companies and two by Foxconn. These plants are supported by a supplier ecosystem of around forty five companies, including several micro, small and medium enterprises that provide components for both domestic use and global supply chains.
The export push has had a broader impact on India’s trade profile. Smartphones, driven largely by iPhone shipments that accounted for roughly seventy five percent of total smartphone exports, emerged as India’s single largest export category in the 2024–25 financial year. This marks a dramatic rise from 2015, when smartphones ranked 167th among export items.
India has also become the world’s second largest mobile phone producer, with more than ninety nine percent of handsets sold domestically now manufactured within the country. Officials say this reflects India’s gradual move up the electronics manufacturing value chain.
The smartphone production linked incentive scheme is set to conclude in March 2026, although the government is reportedly examining options to extend policy support. Under revised rules, companies have been allowed to claim incentives for any five consecutive years within a six year period.
On the domestic market front, Apple sold an estimated 6.5 million iPhone 16 units in the first eleven months of 2025, making it the highest selling smartphone model in the country during that period. (IANS)