iPhone Units Produced in India Expanding Market Share

Apple shipped almost a million 'Made in India' iPhone units in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report. The new achievement comes just a couple of weeks after the Cupertino company announced that it started production of the iPhone 13 models in the country. With that move, Apple broadened manufacturing of iPhone models locally through its contractors including Foxconn and Wistron. Local production helped the company to reduce tax burden and allow its manufacturing partners to leverage the subsidiaries given by the government for producing new iPhone models in the country.

"In Q1 2022, the share of 'Made in India' Apple iPhones within the overall iPhone portfolio increased 50 percent year-on-year," said Prabhu Ram, Head of Industry Intelligence Group at market research firm CyberMedia Research.

Apple started manufacturing its iPhone models in the country back in 2017, with the first-generation iPhone SE produced locally at the Bengaluru factory of supplier Wistron.

However, the iPhone maker gradually expanded its local production process in the recent past — and started manufacturing models including the iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2020), and the iPhone 12. It also earlier this month confirmed local production of the iPhone 13 models.

"With iPhone 13 production in India, we anticipate Apple's future growth to be bolstered by the newer generation iPhone models," Ram said.

It is important to note that the locally manufactured iPhone models are not just being sold in the country but also a part of what Apple exports to global markets. This is also not the first time when we are seeing a growth of 'Made in India' iPhone units.

According to analyst firm Counterpoint, Apple's production in India grew 196 percent year-on-year in 2021.

Prachir Singh, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint, told Gadgets 360 that the local production growth catered to both local consumption and exports.

The growth of locally-produced models also helped Apple reduce the shipments of imported iPhone units that involve significant custom duties and taxes.

In 2019, around 64 percent of the iPhone shipments in India were imported, which declined to 23 percent in 2021. The Counterpoint data also shows that as much as 77 percent of the iPhone models shipped in the market in 2021 were manufactured locally in the country.

Navkendar Singh, Research Director at IDC India, stated that since Apple did well in the second half of 2021 in the country on the back of n-1/2 generation models, which were the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, locally-assembled models formed a large part of Apple's volumes and growth in that year.

The latest data shared by CyberMedia Research also shows that the iPhone 12 emerged as the best-performing model in the iPhone portfolio in India in the first quarter, with a share of 52 percent in the market. It was followed by the iPhone 13 at 20 percent and the iPhone 11 at 18 percent. The iPhone SE (2020) and iPhone 13 Pro, on the other hand, captured four and two percent share, respectively.

Top iPhone models in Q1 2022 — as per CyberMedia Research

Overall, CyberMedia Research suggested that the iPhone models in the country marked a 22 percent year-on-year growth in the first quarter. The firm also predicted that the iPhone portfolio would capture a share of 5.2 percent in the calendar year 2022. It currently has a share of 3.2 percent, as per the CyberMedia Research data.

Alongside the iPhone, Apple seems to have marked a noteworthy growth on the part of its iPad models in the country. The data collected by CyberMedia Research shows that the iPad shipments grew 31 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The iPad (2021) Wi-Fi only was the most-shipped iPad in the country in the last quarter, with a share of 45 percent. The iPad (2021) Wi-Fi + Cellular and iPad Air (2022) Wi-Fi only were the second most-shipped models, with 12 percent share each. They were followed by the iPad Pro (2021) Wi-Fi only model that captured an 11 percent share in the quarter, according to CyberMedia Research.

Apple declined to comment on the data shared by CyberMedia Research.