India’s Smartphone Exports To Cross $1.5 bn

‘Make in India’ initiative bearing fruits as people across 24 countries use mobile phones made in India, says a report

The smartphone exports from India are estimated to cross $1.5 billion, or approximately Rs 11,104 crores, in 2020, shows a recent report by research firm techarc. The report also shows that the ‘Make in India’ initiative has contributed significantly as people across 24 countries buy mobile phones made in India. Since January to September, a total of 12.8 million mobile phones were exported from India out of which, 10.9 million were smartphones. COVID-19 caused a sharp decline in the April to June period.

Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techarc, said, “India has been exporting mobiles to destinations like UAE and neighbouring SAARC countries for quite some time. However, ‘Make in India’ initiative has made India a truly global exporter of mobile phones.”

“Today, India is exporting to 24 countries, some of which are further re-exporting, like UAE, to other markets making Indian made phones available to millions of users,” added Faisal.

Faisal further said that the recentlyannounced PLI scheme, which was approved in favour of 16 electronics companies including 10 mobile handset manufacturers, will further strengthen India’s positioning in the global mobile market and compliment manufacturers’ goal of making India a global hub of mobile production.

Key Takeaways:

• A total of 12.8 million mobile phones were exported from India since January to September 2020. Of this, there were 10.9 million smartphones.

• COVID-19 had a severe impact on the exports with volume sharply falling to 1.2 million in April-june quarter from 7.4 million in January-march period. For July-september quarter, the exports were at 4.2 million units indicating recovering due to restoration of supply chain and logistics as well as resumption of work in Indian factories.

Samsung leads the exports significantly with 11.6 million units distantly followed by Xiaomi at 0.6 million shipments. Samsung exported 9.8 million units of smartphones followed by Xiaomi at 0.6 million and Lava at 0.2 million smartphones. The other smartphone exporters in top 5 are Vivo and Oneplus.

Lava has emerged as the ‘torchbearer’ Indian brand which is not only the lone domestic brand exporting mobiles but also pecks in top 5 brands.

Indian brands are now exporting to extended markets like USA. Seven brands are exporting mobile phones from India to the US.

• 21 brands are exporting mobiles from India. 17 brands are exporting smartphones.

Samsung A51 is the most exported smartphone from India. The top 10 smartphones exported from India are from Samsung.n