Apple is aiming to produce iPhones worth INR 1 Lakh Cr in India by the end of March 2024. This comes at a time when the tech giant has already scaled up capacity to achieve over INR 60,000 Cr in production during the first seven months of the fiscal year, officials aware of the matter told ET.
If Apple falls short of the INR 1 Lakh Cr milestone this fiscal, it is expected to reach that target in the first quarter of FY25, the officials added.
Apple is preparing to meet festive demand in the US and the West starting this month, however, due to global challenges, consumption, including electronics, has decreased in the West. Around 70% of iPhones manufactured in India are exported, with Apple having exported INR 40,000 Cr ($5 Bn) worth of iPhones from April to October in this fiscal year.
In FY23, iPhone became the first single brand to exceed the $5 Bn export threshold from India. This year, Apple has recorded a 185% year-on-year growth in exports during the first seven months. In the same period last year, it exported iPhones worth INR 14,000 Cr.
“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,” Navkendar Singh, associate vice president, client devices & IPDS, IDC India, said in a statement.
Apple’s production in India is carried out by Foxconn and Pegatron in Tamil Nadu, and Wistron (now owned by the Tata Group) in Karnataka, under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for smartphone manufacturing.
Recently, Tata Group signed an agreement with Wistron Hong Kong to acquire a 100% equity stake in Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing (India). This makes Tata Group the first Indian entity to officially join Apple’s supply chain as an iPhone manufacturer. The deal, valued at $750 Mn, includes a $550 Mn inter-corporate loan from the parent to Wistron India.
Apple has been increasingly focusing on India for iPhone manufacturing since 2018-19. The company tested the market for a couple of years by producing limited numbers of iPhone SE, 7 and 8 models.
As per ET, Apple conducted a comprehensive test of the Indian manufacturing landscape, including factors like the availability of skilled labour, from 2018 to 2020.
Production, which was INR 16,750 Cr in 2020-21, has surged to INR 60,000 Cr in just seven months of the current fiscal year.
In addition to exports, Apple is already reaping the benefits of increasing premiumisation in the domestic market. Apple is expected to sell a record 9-10 Mn iPhones in India in 2024 compared with less than 7 Mn in 2023.
According to the Registrar of Companies, Apple India recorded a year-end turnover of INR 49,321 Cr for FY23. However, this represents only 1.5% of Apple’s worldwide turnover, which stands at INR 32.6 Lakh Cr ($383.93 Bn).
Additionally, Apple will start manufacturing AirPods at the Hyderabad Foxconn unit in December 2024.
In May, Apple’s iPhone exports from India exceeded INR 10,000 Cr, reaching a total of INR 20,000 Cr between April and May. This marks more than double the value compared to the same period last year.
The tech giant also reported record revenue in India in Q3 2023, with the company’s newly-opened retail stores in the country ‘exceeding expectations’.
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