Apple’s ‘Made in India’ iPhone shipments peaked in 2022

• Shipments of iPhones Made in India grew 162% YoY in value, signaling the efforts to boost Indian production of Apple products paying off.
• By volume, ‘Made in India’ shipments from Apple grew 65% YoY.
• Overall, Apple, in 2022, accounted for 25% of the value of India’s total smartphone shipments, up from 12% in 2021.

Apple’s ‘Made in India’ push seems to be paying off as data shows Indian iPhone units made and volume shipped soaring to levels never-seen-before. Data by Counterpoint Research shows that the shipment value of Indian-made iPhones grew 162% year-on-year (YoY) in 2022, while volume rose by 65%.

Since Apple has begun diversifying its production out of China, the tech giant has been centering its efforts on India as a location for producing iPhones and accessories. Just last month, one of India’s top government officials shared that Apple Inc. is looking to boost production in India, with the help of its partner Foxconn, to about a quarter of its global total. 

But even at the rate that Apple was accelerating its Indian production in 2022, the company has managed to capture 25% of the total value of the smartphone market in India, an impressive feat from a mere 12% in 2021. Counterpoint’s Research Director Tarun Pathak attributed the increasing exports from Apple, among others, to have driven the Indian locally manufactured shipments in 2022 and somewhat offset the impact of the local demand decline.

To put things into context, all this while, China produces up to 85% of iPhones globally but has been at risk of losing its dominance as Apple takes steps to diversify its manufacturing supply chain. Besides India, Apple has also extended into Vietnam for AirPods and Mac assembly, up its ante in Malaysia for some Mac production, and Ireland—where suppliers currently build the relatively easy-to-produce iMacs—for a range of more straightforward products.

The iPhone maker is placing big bets on the South Asian nation, so much so that Apple is expected to open its first official retail store in India sooner than later. Apple released an image that shows the store in Mumbai’s central business district without indicating its opening date. 

The South Asian country, which is also the world’s second-largest smartphone market, is seeing overall local manufacturing boosted due to the recent disbursement of the phased manufacturing program and the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme incentives from the government as well as other initiatives, both at the central and state levels. 

Pathak noted that India sees multiple companies investing in the country and expanding their manufacturing base. “Also, the component and semiconductor ecosystem is witnessing investment growth due to the government’s continuous efforts,” he added. Pathak reckons India is reaping more benefits from the PLI scheme, main thanks to increasing Apple and Samsung exports. 

How are other Made-in-India smartphones doing?

Unfortunately, due to the softening of consumer demand brought by macroeconomic headwinds, especially in the second half of 2022, Counterpoint Research said ‘Made in India’ smartphone shipments declined by 3% for 2022. The shipments also fell 19% YoY in the last quarter due to local demand decline, particularly in the entry and mid-tier segments. 

However, regarding the value, ‘Made in India’ smartphone shipments registered 34% YoY growth, mainly due to increasing premiumization and the increasing exports of premium smartphones, primarily from Apple. As for the contribution of exports in the total ‘Made in India,’ smartphone shipments reached the highest ever in 2022, both in volume (20%) and value terms (30%). 

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