Mobile phone manufacturing: Should we settle for one Apple?

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By Editorial Team Published : 20 Dec 2025 03:09 IST Ee Font size
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Centre 2014 ‘Manufacturing in India’ When the scheme was launched, there were two or two mobile phone manufacturing companies in the country. Now their number has crossed three quarters. At that time, the value of mobile phones manufactured in India was Rs. 18 thousand crores, while their value reached Rs. 5.45 lakh crores. If multinational companies like Apple are welcomed, India can shine in more fields.

Today India is the second largest producer of mobile phones in the world. In 2014-15, three-quarters of the country's demand for mobile phones had to be met through imports. Directly that requirement has been reduced to 0.02 percent. At the same time, the exports of smartphones from India increased from Rs.1,500 crore to Rs.2 lakh crore. Today, 33 crore mobile phones are being supplied to foreign countries annually from us. From 2020-21, foreign direct investments of 400 crore dollars have flowed into the Indian electronics manufacturing sector. This sector is the lion's share of the manufacturing scheme in India. This has been possible due to the provision of necessary facilities for the production of smartphones in the country and the adoption of appropriate incentive policies by the government.

Exports flow

In the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, India has reached the 63rd rank in 2019 from 142nd rank in 2014. Make in India, Digital India, Skilled India, Phased Industrialization Scheme, National Electronics Policy and Product Linkage Incentive Scheme have made the country an electronics manufacturing hub. Innumerable consumers, demand for premium phones and reforms brought by the government for ease of doing business have also taken India from the status of importer of smartphones to the status of the largest exporter. Labor cost in India is low compared to other countries. Professional engineers do not have any. Along with Apple and Samsung, many Chinese companies have pushed to manufacture electronics and smartphones in India. In the first five months of the current financial year, the export of Indian smartphones has crossed one lakh crore rupees. In the third quarter, our smartphone market witnessed a five percent growth. Apple continues to dominate the premium smartphone market. The value of smartphones manufactured in the country in the current financial year is 64 billion dollars. Out of which phones worth 2410 million dollars were exported abroad. Smartphones, ranked 167th in India's exports list in 2015, came in third place.

So what? No manufacturing?

The US-China trade war forced Apple to move its production operations outside of China. The Tata Group continues to occupy a prominent position in the composition of components for Apple phones. Around 50 Apple component suppliers, including Tata and Foxconn, have opened units in India. Apple has signed agreements with 45 other Indian companies, half of which are MSMEs. It's all a leap - India is still an assembler of Apple components, but not a full-fledged manufacturer. It is essential for India to focus on research and development for the production of tools such as semiconductors.

In the second quarter of this year, India accounted for 44 percent of the smartphones imported into the US. In the first half of the year, Apple exported iPhones worth a thousand million dollars from India. If this momentum continues - India will account for a quarter of the world's iPhone production by the end of this year. By 2028, Apple may reach the condition of sourcing 30 percent of its components from India. Today all advanced Apple models including iPhone-17 are manufactured in India. When Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India, only 0.5 percent of global sales were sold here. Today we have a 10.4 percent share of the global iPhone market. Our country has emerged as the third largest market for iPhones. In the current financial year, Apple India's profits increased by 16 percent to Rs 3,196 crore. Apple is opening more stores as demand from India's expanding middle class grows.

To be a tough competitor in the global market...

Apple's operations in India have provided direct employment to three and a half lakh people. By the end of this year many lakhs more people will get indirect employment. Companies like Tata Electronics and Foxconn, which supply components to Apple, have provided the highest direct employment opportunities. 72 percent of the jobs brought by Apple went to women. Apple's case is proof that India's integration with global production networks can create high-wage jobs. Compared to traditional labour-intensive industries in the country, electronics and machine-driven industries have witnessed the fastest growth and created a large number of employment opportunities. Exports have also been achieved. If more multinational companies like Apple are attracted, India will become a strong competitor in the global market like Korea and Taiwan. To that end, the country should take advantage of the next decade to be known as India of Innovations. In the textile and apparel sector, India can easily attract international brands like Nike, Gucci, LVMH, Zara. If we try hard - it can become a global hub for garment manufacturing.

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