Apple sets record: iPhone exports under PLI double to $10 bn in a year

Exports expected to cross 80% of its production

Apple has set a new record by exporting $10 billion worth of iPhones from India during FY24, according to data provided to the government — a 100 per cent increase over the previous financial year under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

In terms of consumer products, this constitutes the largest-ever export of a single branded product by any company from India.

iPhone exports accounted for 70 per cent of Apple’s total production in FY24. Of the three suppliers, Foxconn exported 60 per cent of its total iPhone output; Pegatron 74 per cent; and Wistron (now the Tatas) 97 per cent. Apple’s total iPhone production by its three suppliers touched $14 billion during the financial year. A spokesperson of Apple Inc did not comment on the numbers. 

In FY24, the cumulative export target under the PLI scheme for the three suppliers was $7.2 billion, a target they have exceeded by 39 per cent. 

In fact, Apple’s committed export target under PLI for FY25 was $10 billion which has been achieved a year earlier, according to this data. In future, as Apple expands capacity in India, it is expected that exports will cross 80 per cent of its total production from India. Apple is the first global value chain lead firm that has made India its home, primarily for labour-intensive manufacturing exports, rather than for the domestic market.

The market value of Apple’s $10 billion exports, depending on local taxes etc., will be in the range of $16 billion.

The total exports of mobile phones from India are expected to cross $15 billion in FY24, making Apple by far the largest contributor with nearly two-thirds of the total.

The Apple ecosystem has generated nearly 150,000 new direct jobs since the launch of the PLI scheme and approximately 300,000 additional indirect jobs.

The ecosystem is also working with multiple private and government construction companies that are building nearly 50,000 new employee housing units near the supplier factories.

Most of them will be for women workers in companies, such as Foxconn Hon Hai, Tata Electronics, and Salcomp.

While the domestic market for Apple products in general and the iPhone in particular is growing fast, the company’s revenue of Rs 49,321 crore for FY23 merely constituted 1.5 per cent of Apple’s global turnover of $383.29 billion. Its FY24, revenue is expected to increase over the previous fiscal by over 30 per cent.

The Indian Cellular and Electronics Association, of which Apple and several mobile companies are members, recently argued that the domestic market for mobiles in India, except high-end phones, is plateauing and, therefore, export is the only way forward to meet the $100 billion mobile production objective by 2026-27.