India's electronics manufacturing boom: Smartphone exports soar, challenging China's dominance

New Delhi: India’s smartphone exports crossed ₹1 lakh crore in value during the first five months of FY26, setting a new record, according to industry estimates. The figure marks a 55% increase from ₹64,500 crore in the same period of FY25, despite ongoing tariff and trade frictions with the United States.

Apple’s contract manufacturers, Tata Electronics and Foxconn, accounted for nearly three-quarters of outbound shipments, contributing more than ₹75,000 crore worth of exports, industry sources said. The US tech giant has ramped up production in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, spurred by India’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

Most of Apple’s India-based export capacity will be dedicated to the US market in 2025. iPhone shipments to the US rose sharply, with 78% of domestically assembled devices sent there in the first half of 2025, up from 53% a year earlier. India’s share of US smartphone imports climbed to 44% this year, while China’s share dropped to 25% from 61% in mid-2024. Overall, shipments of “Made-in-India” smartphones grew more than 240% year-on-year.

Samsung and Motorola have also expanded their US-focused production in India, though on a smaller scale compared to Apple. While Motorola still relies heavily on China, Samsung continues to base most of its smartphone manufacturing in Vietnam.

India’s electronics manufacturing sector has undergone rapid expansion over the past decade. The country now hosts around 300 mobile manufacturing units, compared with just two in 2014. At that time, only 26% of mobile phones sold in India were locally made. Today, that figure has surged to 99.2%, according to government data.

IANS