India’s mobile phone exports surge as China and Vietnam’s numbers fall

India is closing in on China and Vietnam in terms of mobile phone exports. The nation’s mobile exports grew by 40.5 per cent year on year in the fiscal year 2023-’24 (FY24), while China’s share dropped by 2.78 per cent and Vietnam’s by 17.6 per cent.

India’s exports of mobile phones scaled $15.6 billion in FY24. The numbers are up from $11.1 billion in FY23, marking a surge of $4.5 billion.

In comparison, China’s mobile phone export in FY24 was worth $132.5 billion in FY24, witnessing a drop from the country’s exports figure of $136.3 billion in FY23. Vietnam’s export business in mobile phones, worth $31.9 billion in FY23, fell to $26.27 billion in FY24, according to data from International Trade Centre, or ITC, a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.

India has seized almost 50 per cent of the mobile export business China and Vietnam lost cumulatively, an official source told The Economic Times. China’s geopolitical tension with the West has given India the scope to cash in, aided by the China Plus One strategy that lets countries avoid investing exclusively in China and diversify businesses and investments into other developing nations as India, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

PLI GIVES THE PUSH

India’s boost in mobile phone exports is widely being seen as an outcome of the government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for smartphones. Under the scheme, companies get incentives a year after attaining targets and can claim extra benefits upon exceeding targets. The scheme is meant to invite companies to manufacture as well as augment production.

The PLI Scheme has been beneficial especially for Apple, with the smartphone giant manufacturing iPhones in India after China under the PLI Scheme that was launched in 2020. The scheme resulted in Apple India’s exports rising to more than $10 billion in FY24 from $5 billion in FY23. Overall, the export of India-manufactured iPhones comprised 65 per cent of the country’s $15.6 billion mobile exports and more than a third of India’s electronics exports.

Today three major iPhone vendors make in India. These are Wistron, which is owned by Tata, Foxconn and Pegatron. Overall, Apple India’s production rose to $14 billion in FY24 from $7 billion in FY23, a report presented to the ministry of electronics and IT said.