Apple Inc, through its vendors, exported iPhones worth $6 billion from India during the April-June 2025 quarter, growing a staggering 82 per cent over the same period last year, according to data shared by the vendors with the government.
Exports stood at only $3.2 billion in the same period a year ago.
As a result, despite the looming tariff threat from US President Donald Trump, India's smartphone exports surged by 58 per cent in the same quarter, reaching $7.72 billion, up from $4.9 billion in Q1 of FY25, according to industry estimates.
The first quarter of FY26 marks the highest ever for smartphone exports from India, with Apple accounting for nearly 78 per cent of total exports.
However, the continuation of this growth in smartphone exports will depend on the outcome of the US investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which empowers the US president to impose import restrictions in the name of national security. The report is expected by August 14. Until then, mobile devices remain on the exemption list with zero duty.
Last year, India's smartphone exports touched $24.1 billion, of which Apple contributed $17.5 billion. Industry experts hope that the exemption will continue, or that any tariff imposed will be minimal.
Driven by the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme announced in 2020, smartphone exports have leapfrogged from being India's 167th-ranked export item in FY15 to the country's top export (by HS code) in FY25.This growth in smartphone exports during Q1FY26 has also propelled India's overall electronics exports, which reached $12.4 billion in the same period, up 48 per cent from $8.4 billion in Q1FY25.
Smartphones accounted for 62 per cent of total electronics exports in Q1FY26, up from 58 per cent in Q1FY25.
Apart from Apple Inc, other contributors to smartphone exports included Samsung, Padget Electronics (a subsidiary of Dixon Technologies), and market exports.
According to estimates, Samsung accounted for 12 per cent of total exports, while the remaining 10 per cent came from a combination of Padget and other market players. Padget alone exported smartphones worth $175 million in Q1FY26.The positive impact of the PLI scheme in boosting India's competitiveness in smartphone exports has been clearly visible since 2020. For comparison, India exported only $3.1 billion worth of smartphones in the entire FY21.
The results of the PLI scheme began to show in FY22, when exports rose to $5.8 billion. Since then, the figures have steadily climbed -- to $11.1 billion in FY23, $15.6 billion in FY24, and peaking at $24.1 billion in FY25.The PLI scheme is coming to an end for companies in a sequential manner. Apple's three vendors are in their final year under the scheme, while Samsung completed its five years in March.
-- Surajeet Das Gupta, Business Standard
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