In September 2023, it was announced that Apple had overtaken Samsung to become the largest smartphone exporter from India.
According to a report, in the June quarter of 2023, Apple shipped close to 50% of India’s total smartphone exports.
This was said to surpass Samsung, which shipped 45%. And Apple’s share of exports surged from 9% in Q2 2022 to close to 50% in Q2 2023.
This may mark a shift in India’s smartphone export landscape. Apple’s performance in India could be attributed to its local manufacturing efforts, which began in 2017.
The company is said to have ramped up production through its contract manufacturers, including Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, in the Q2 2022. They were said to drop from 10% in Q1 2023 to about 6% in Q2 2023.
This decline could be attributed to a global downturn in demand for Android smartphones.
Apple’s performance in India seems to extend beyond exports, as the company aims to capture a larger share of the local smartphone market.
With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models said to be gaining momentum, Apple is expected to secure 7% of India’s total smartphone sales in H2 2023, up from 5% in H1.
And it seems like Apple has been actively positioning India as a key driver of its future growth strategy.
Apple is said to already dominate the high-end smartphone segment in India.
Apple is said to have held close to 70% in terms of share in H1 2023, while Samsung accounted for about 30% of this segment.
