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New Delhi: Apple ’s vendors nearly doubled exports of iPhones from India in March–a majority to the US–to Rs 20,000 crore, from Rs 11,000 crore a year ago, likely pointing to the smartphone major’s efforts to build stocks ahead of the tariffs announced by the Donald Trump administration from April 2. Apple’s vendors exported iPhones worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore in FY25, compared with Rs 85,000 crore in FY24, according to preliminary exports data seen by ET.
That Apple figure surpasses the Rs 1.30 lakh crore of all smartphones that India shipped out in FY24. iPhones worth Rs 48,000 crore were exported in the March quarter, compared with Rs 28,500 crore in the year earlier.
January-March has traditionally been the strongest for Apple’s exports from India. With enough advance warning about the tariffs, the month saw a sharper ramp-up this year, said industry executives. Advt Apple didn’t respond to queries.
The 26% reciprocal tariff imposed on India, as well as those on other countries, will be coming into effect on April 9. As a result, electronics exports to the US, including iPhones, are expected to slow in the coming months. Historically, the June quarter is a low-volume one for Apple, which may offset some of the impact, said one of the executives.
According to government officials, while iPhone exports have increased substantially in FY25 over the last fiscal, future growth will be determined by the Bilateral Trade Agreement that’s being negotiated with the US. “We want to navigate this space carefully,” said an official close to tariff negotiations. A second industry executive said electronics makers, including smartphone companies such as Apple, are in wait-and-watch mode.
“While the worst-case scenario plans will be built in, no company will take any knee-jerk reaction in terms of moving its supply chain around for the next six-eight weeks,” said one of the persons cited. Lots Riding on India-US Pact Currently, iPhones are only made in India and China. India is better placed with a 26% tariff, as compared to China’s 54%.
Even though India has emerged in a better position than rivals China and Vietnam (46%) in terms of reciprocal tariffs, New Delhi has to play its cards intelligently and secure a favourable deal with the US for the long term, outflanking its two manufacturing rivals, said experts. Advt But Apple–which has a lot riding on the India-US trade talks –has, at least for the next few months, safeguarded itself from having to raise prices in the US, which could have hit demand sharply, they said. According to the data, among Apple’s three contract manufacturers in India, Foxconn contributed the largest share of 51% in FY25, followed by Tata Electronics (30%) and Pegatron (19%), which is also owned by Tata Electronics.
In FY24, iPhone exports to the US from India touched Rs 46,200 crore. That made the smartphones India’s second-largest export product to that country after petroleum products. According to an expert tracking the industry, the feat achieved by Apple has many firsts.
For instance, iPhones are now India’s fastest-growing export product. The exports of iPhones have gone from virtually zero in FY21 to the current levels within a four-year period, after the commencement of the smartphone production linked incentive (PLI) scheme. This also makes Apple the largest exporter of any branded product from India.
By Kiran Rathee , ET Bureau Published On Apr 7, 2025 at 07:24 AM IST Telegram Facebook Copy Link Be the first one to comment. Comment Now COMMENTS Comment Now Read Comment (1) All Comments By commenting, you agree to the Prohibited Content Policy Post By commenting, you agree to the Prohibited Content Policy Post Find this Comment Offensive? Choose your reason below and click on the submit button. This will alert our moderators to take actions REASONS FOR REPORTING Foul Language Defamatory Inciting hatred against a certain community Out of Context / Spam Others Report Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis.
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