iPhone becomes India’s top single export item worth $23 billion last year

In 2025, Apple’s iPhone became India’s top export, with $23 billion shipped, driven by PLI incentives and supply chain diversification. Smartphones led exports, as India emerged as a major producer, while Apple expanded manufacturing, retail presence, and revenue growth

New Delhi: Apple’s iPhone became the most valuable export item from India in 2025 with around $23 billion worth of devices shipped from domestic factories in the country, mostly to the United States, according to industry data.

This surge in Apple exports was driven by production incentives such as the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and diversification from Chinese suppliers, said industry players. Smartphones were India’s top export category for the first time, surpassing automotive diesel fuel, with a total $30.13 billion worth of exports in the January-December period.

---

Apple accounted for 76 per cent of total smartphone exports. Apple’s five‑year PLI window is scheduled to end in March 2026. Apple’s manufacturing footprint in the country includes five iPhone assembly plants — three operated by Tata Group entities and two by Foxconn — supported by a supply chain of around 45 companies, including many MSMEs supplying components for domestic and global operations.

India became the world’s second-largest mobile phone producer, with more than 99 per cent of phones sold domestically now Made in India moves up the manufacturing value chain. The Indian consumers’ smartphone buying patterns also showed a marked shift moving away from the traditional budget‑segment dominance, as Apple’s iPhone 16 base variant emerged as the top‑selling smartphone model in 2025, a report from Counterpoint Research said recently.

For the December quarter, Apple set all-time revenue records in the Americas, Europe, Japan, and the rest of Asia Pacific.

“We continued to gain momentum in emerging markets, which includes India, where we saw strong double-digit revenue growth,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the earnings call recently.

The company is set to open another store in Mumbai on February 26. The Apple CEO said they did set a quarterly revenue record during the December quarter in India.

“India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world and the fourth largest PC market,” he said, adding that the company “set quarterly revenue records on iPhone and Mac and iPad, and an all-time revenue record on services”.