Apple’s iPhones are largely emerging as India’s top exporter for the first time, shipping about 23 billion units in 2025. Smartphones were India’s largest export, surpassing other products like automotive, diesel fuel, and medicines in the January-December period. iPhone’s other export destinations show that the US has become India’s largest market, as exports to the US rose from 80 billion to 92.3 billion, an increase of almost 14.5%. However, the UAE remained the second-largest destination by 38.6 billion, and shipments from India to Europe, including countries like the Netherlands and the UK, declined due to high tariffs.
Manufacturing of Apple smartphones is currently handled by two business groups: Foxconn and Tata Electronics. Apple had begun assembling most of its models made in and shipped from India right at launch, marked as the turning point for India. This has caused Apple to take 30% of its global production from India and move to make most of its models in India rather than China.
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Nilanjan Banik, professor of economics at Manhindra University, is claiming that India is rising as an iPhone exporter, serving both policy support and demand trends due to massive manufacturing scale-up and domestic demand. He also added that the shipments hit 23 million units in 2025, boosting its market share to a record of 9%. India has established a proper supply chain to states, especially Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, to maintain its growth like this.
