India will meet Rs 1 trillion cellphone FY24 export target by December

Mobile phone exports crossed the Rs 30,000-crore mark during the April-June quarter, registering an over 100% growth over the year-ago period.

Going by the Q1 trend, both the government and industry are confident that the target of reaching exports worth `1 trillion by the fiscal end would be met by December itself.

In FY23, mobile phone exports surpassed Rs 90,000 crore, an increase of 100% from Rs 45,000 crore in FY22.

Typically, mobile phone sales in India and across the world slow down during July-August as consumers wait for the launch of new models ahead of the festival season. Mobile sales pick up not only in India but across the world in the September-December period. This is usually the period that sees highest production, sales and exports of mobiles across the world.

Apple’s three vendors Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron contributed nearly Rs 20,000 crore – two-thirds of the total Rs 30,000-crore exports – during the April-June period. Majority of the remaining contribution came from Samsung and the rest from the local brands.

iPhone exports grew 400% during the quarter over the year-ago period. All three Apple vendors are participants in the government’s Rs 38,601-crore smartphone production-linked incentive scheme.

According to industry estimates, exports crossed the $1-billion mark in each of the three months of Q1. In fact, May saw the highest exports of Rs 11,800 crore in any single month during Q1.

Mobile production and exports from India have been on a steady increase since 2021 when the PLI scheme was launched. In FY22, which was the first year of the PLI scheme, mobile exports had reached Rs 4,800 crore in Q1. In the second year of PLI, Q1 saw a 300% increase in exports to Rs 14,000 crore.

“We are proud of the impressive growth in exports and thank the government for its support. Going forward, India’s competitiveness and scale, in turn linked to lowering input tariffs and ability to build large-scale factories with working hostels, are critical to reach the $300-billion production and $120-billion electronics exports target over the next three years,” Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), said.

Industry sources said that Apple is looking at doubling and trebling its growth and investments in the country in the coming years. Foxconn’s factory in Chennai has emerged as the largest in the country in a single location in any sector, employing 35,000 people on the shop floor. Overall, along with its two other contract manufacturers, Wistron and Pegatron, Apple has generated 100,000 jobs in the last two years and is confident of doubling this in the coming years.

This year, Apple also opened two of its company-owned retail stores in India, in Mumbai and Delhi. Financial Express