India becomes the second-biggest mobile phone-producing country, reports Counterpoint

According to latest research from Counterpoint, “Made in India” mobile phone shipments crossed 2-billion cumulative units mark under the “Make in India” initiative during 2014-2022, registering a 23% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The major reasons for this growth are huge internal demand, increasing digital literacy and government push. As a result, India has become the second-biggest mobile phone-producing country.

Research Director Tarun Pathak pointed out that they had seen local manufacturing increase over the years to meet domestic demand. In 2022, more than 98% of shipments in the overall Indian market were “Made in India”, compared to just 19% in 2014.

The chart shows ‘Made in India’ Mobile Phones Shipment Share in Local Market from 2014-2022.

There was also increasing local value addition and supply chain development in the country – local value addition in India currently stands at an average of more than 15%. Many companies were setting up units in India for manufacturing mobile phones and components, leading to growing investments, job opportunities and overall ecosystem development.

One of the typical example is Apple’s iPhone – Apple has recently ramped up iPhone production in India, assembling more than US$7 billion worth there in the last fiscal year, according to Bloomberg. The outlet also said that Apple produces nearly 7% of its iPhones in India. Apple CEO Tim Cook also told CNBC that India represents a “huge opportunity”.

Production of iPhone in India has been increasing.

Foxconn, an Apple supplier, is beginning production of iPhone 15 in India as the company take more effort to diversify its manufacturing process to different countries, reported Bloomberg.

On the Indian government initiatives, Senior Analyst Prachir Singh said, “The Indian government has launched and executed many schemes. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the government introduced the Phased Manufacturing Program and increased import duties on completely built units and some key components to push local manufacturing and value addition.”

He added that under the Self-Reliant India scheme, the government has introduced the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for 14 sectors, including mobile phone manufacturing. Exports from India have since increased.