iPhone exports to nearly double YoY in FY24, Samsung growth seen flat

On the other hand, Samsung exports in terms of value are seen flat at around Rs 32,000-35,000 crore, analysts and market tracker said. Overall, the smartphone exports from the country is expected to grow 33% YoY to Rs 1.2 trillion in FY24, as also estimated by India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA).

Reasons for Apple’s significant growth in value of exports can be attributed to the premiumisation trend globally, and also higher average selling price of iPhones which is around $1,000. Besides, the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has also helped the company’s three contract manufacturers – Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron to increase the domestic production of iPhones to meet both local as well as global demand.

On the other hand, Samsung’s exports value growth is seen flat as the company’s smartphone average price is around $250 owing to its presence across price points. Other factors include tepid demand for smartphones globally except premium phones, as well as lower exports of flagship smartphones such as S series by the company from the country, analysts said. Samsung is also a beneficiary under the smartphone PLI scheme.

As earlier reported, Apple’s production of iPhones in India crossed the $10-billion (around Rs 82,000 crore) mark during the 10-month period of April-January of the current fiscal. Of that, exports consitute over 70%. On the other hand, Samsung is averaging about $350 million (Rs 2,900 crore) worth exports per month, according to estimates.

Basis the overall smartphone exports projected for FY24, Apple’s contribution is expected to be around 70%, while that of Samsung is seen around 25%, and the remaining is expected to come from exports by other brands such as Lava, Motorola, and Vivo.

Even as Samsung is working on boosting its India production and looking to grow its exports share, currently Vietnam is the biggest market for the company. The company exports about $40 billion worth smartphones from the country, an industry executive said, adding that there is a complete ecosystem available in Vietnam including components, display etc, and the same is evolving in India.

“Between Apple and Samsung, it is the volume vs value game. Apple’s ASP (average selling price) is nearly four times that of Samsung. Also, currently Samsung is not exporting a lot of its premium S series from India,” said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint India. “Vietnam is the biggest base for them and it will take Samsung time to scale its domestic production and exports,” Pathak said.

According to analysts, overall mobile phone exports will continue to grow at 30-35% YoY as chinese players which constitute 70% of the market share are also expected to start exporting from the country soon.

Faisal Kawoosa, chief analyst at Techarc echoed Pathak’s views. He said, “by and large there has been no change in the market structure for Samsung as the ASPs have been the same”.

“Samsung should start making more of its flagship series in India and start exporting it from here to boost their exports value,” Kawoosa added.

In July 2018, Samsung inaugurated its world’s largest mobile factory in Noida. The factory currently can produce over 120 million units of smartphones per year.

Overall domestic production of smartphones in FY24 is expected to grow 17% YoY to Rs 4.1 trillion from Rs 3.5 trillion in FY23, according to ICEA.