Apple iPhone export surge catapults electronics to podium position

Driven by a surge in Apple iPhone exports from India, electronics has surged past gems and jewellery to secure the third spot among India’s top 10 exports by the end of theApril-June quarter (Q1) of 2024-25 (FY25).  Only engineering goods and petroleum products rank higher. In the same quarter of 2023-24 (FY24), electronics held the fourth spot.

According to data released by the Department of Commerce, electronics exports rose by 22 per cent, reaching $8.44 billion at the end of Q1 of the current financial year (FY25) — an increase of $1.5 billion from $6.94 billion in Q1FY24.

While mobile exports of $4.8 billion during Q1FY25 constituted nearly 57 per cent of the total electronics exports, the increase was primarily driven by the generous rise in iPhone exports from India, which reached $3.5 billion in Q1.

 

Mobile phone exports as a category also rose by 30 per cent from the Q1FY24 figure of $3.72 billion, adding $1.1 billion in additional exports in Q1FY25.

iPhone exports increased by $900 million during the same period. Simply put, the $900 million increase in iPhone exports accounted for 82 per cent of the rise in mobile phone exports and 60 per cent of the increase in electronics exports during Q1FY25. 

The $1.1 billion increase in mobile phone exports constituted 73 per cent of the growth seen in the electronics category this quarter. Since the launch of the smartphone production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, both mobile and electronics exports have seen steady and substantial growth.

Before the PLI scheme was introduced in April 2020, mobile phones as an independent Harmonized System category ranked 14th with exports of $2.9 billion in 2019-20 (FY20). By the end of FY24, they had climbed to fourth position, reaching $15.6 billion, behind automotive diesel, diamonds, and aviation turbine fuel.

As a result, electronics as a broad sector, which recorded $11.2 billion in exports in FY20, jumped two positions to achieve fifth place among India’s top 10 exports, reaching $29.1 billion in FY24, according to the Department of Commerce.