Apple aims for INR 1 Lakh Cr iPhone production in India by March 2024, leveraging expanded manufacturing capacity, which already hit INR 60,000 Cr in the first seven months of the fiscal year. Officials familiar with the matter indicated that if the target isn’t met this fiscal year, it’s expected to be achieved in the first quarter of FY25.
Despite global consumption challenges, Apple is gearing up to meet festive demand in the US and the West. Notably, around 70% of iPhones manufactured in India are exported, with exports totaling INR 40,000 Cr ($5 Bn) from April to October in this fiscal year.
During FY23, iPhone became the first single brand to surpass the $5 Bn export mark from India. This year, exports have seen a remarkable 185% year-on-year growth in the initial seven months, escalating from INR 14,000 Cr during the same period last year.
Navkendar Singh, associate vice president at IDC India, emphasized, “This healthy export numbers are in line with Apple’s focus on India as a market and more importantly, making India as its important manufacturing and export hub, in the medium to longer term.”
Apple’s manufacturing in India operates through Foxconn and Pegatron in Tamil Nadu and Wistron (now owned by the Tata Group) in Karnataka, operating under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for smartphone manufacturing.
Notably, the Tata Group recently sealed a deal with Wistron Hong Kong, acquiring 100% equity in Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing (India). This partnership marks Tata Group as the first Indian entity officially entering Apple’s supply chain as an iPhone manufacturer, valued at $750 Mn, inclusive of a $550 Mn inter-corporate loan from the parent to Wistron India.
