While China and Vietnam stand at the threshold, with India's domestic manufacturing drive pushed by the production-linked incentive scheme, Apple has posted stellar sales of nearly $8 billion in India for the last fiscal year, or FY24, a near 33 percent year-on-year growth. These have come largely through the sale of iPhones, indicating premiumization in one of the world's largest smartphone markets.
Apart from these strong domestic sales, Apple has set new records in exports, something that indicates industry projections of possible increments by more than 20% in iPhone shipments this year alone with solid support to domestic manufacturing and an efficient distribution network.
"Premiumization is happening, and once again, Apple seems to have really placed itself with its product portfolio and financial plans to capture this cycle. Strong brand appeal with increasing channel presence in India has helped the brand immensely in its growth,"Tarun Pathak, Research Director, Counterpoint Research, added.
This has been a major fillip to India's PLI initiative: it has now emerged that mobile phone exports from India made significant gains in FY24, while manufacturing powerhouses like China and Vietnam stayed considerably behind. According to recent industry data, the value of mobile phone exports from China dropped from $136.3 billion in FY23 to $132.5 billion in FY24, while Vietnam dipped from $31.9 billion to $26.27 billion during this period.
Contrarily, Apple-led mobile phone exports from India have surged to almost $16 billion in FY24 from $11 billion in FY23. Mobile phone production in India has surged from ₹18,900 crore in 2014-15 to an estimated ₹4.10 lakh crore in FY24, a phenomenal rise of 2,000%.
According to Counterpoint Research, 70% of consumers had opted for financing schemes for the purchase of smartphones in the premium segment in India. "With subtle design changes and elongated software support, Apple has ensured continuity in older models. This enables consumers to have access to an Apple device at a lower price while allowing Apple to gain a higher market share across multiple price segments," Pathak explained.
Prabhu Ram, the VP of Industry Research Group at CyberMedia Research, points out: "Though value-for-money phones certainly dominate the market, there is a fast-growing premium smartphone segment driven by increasing disposable incomes among an expanding middle class.". "The growth trajectory of Apple is supported by its strong brand presence and greater 'make in India' and 'sell in India' focus. India can be a strategic advantage at this point for Apple to diversify its manufacturing and revenues amid rising tension between the US and China," he said.
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