September Come, the launch of iPhone 17 is only for Apple, but also for India’s smartphone industry. For the first time, all four models in the iPhone 17 series, including the Pro version, are being built in India. Given, the entire iPhone 16 series was also built in India. But this was somewhat staging process. Conversely, for the first time, all four iPhone 17 models will be manufactured from the beginning of the product cycle in India. And these phones will not only be sold in India, but will also be exported to countries like America.

In a way, the upcoming iPhone 17 launch will also mark a significant turn for the Indian smartphone manufacturing industry. Over the years, the increasing number of companies is gradually creating its phone in India. But this year the trend has increased.

For example, between April and July, India exported about $ 7.5 billion iPhone. It is already about half that was exported in the previous year. Experts say that Apple is now using India not only to serve local customers, but also to export to big markets like the US.

Prabhu Ram, head of the industry intelligence group at Cybermedia Research (CMR), said, “India remains a major lynchpin in Apple’s strategy for the flexibility of the supply chain and the pace of development in the next decade.” “The increasing maturity of Make in India, in particular, is demonstrated by the fact that the entire iPhone 17 line-up is being constructed in India initially with China. We minimize a clear development trajectory for India in the global electronics price chain.”

Not just apple, not just iPhone

The big picture is that India is becoming an important basis for many smartphone makers, not only Apple. Indian brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme, Motorola, and even Lava are producing equipment here. Government programs such as production linked incentive (PLI) scheme and fed manufacturing programs have carried forward this growth. Today, India is the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world, with more than 200 factories in the operation. The electronics sector is also one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy, in which smartphone exports are growing more than 40 percent in 2023-24.

Earlier, India was sometimes seen as a secondary manufacturing destination for Apple. Faisal Kavosa, the founder and chief analyst of Techarca, said, “Some will argue that its manufacturing features are not being used for the latest models, especially by Apple. It was not correctly adding perception.” “Now that the latest upcoming model is being made out of India and will be available correctly at the launch, there is no scope of any such discussion. This should be seen by more global brands believing in the Indian manufacturing ecosystem.”

The number tells the story well. According to a report by the India Brand Equity Foundation, in 2014-15, India made only a quarter phone required for its own people. Ten years later, it is making almost all of them locally and also exporting record numbers. The government hopes that electronics production will touch $ 300 billion by 2025-26, and mobile phones can make about 40 percent of it.

Of course, Apple is ready to play a big role. The new Tata group’s new factories can create half of all iPhones in India, and Foxconn is also scaling. It will also build thousands of jobs, both directly in factories and indirectly through the supply chain.

“Apple took about 70 percent of India’s smartphone exports, with Shipment H1 2025 in 2025 jumps 44 percent year-to-year behind the continuous global demand of the latest generation iPhones,” Ram said. “Supported by strong local supply chains and active policy encouragement, India is prepared to maintain strong export growth, especially in high -tech manufacturing Appel’s ecosystem generates significant and indirect employment in the ecosystem of Apple.”

But there are also obstacles. In India, there is still 5-8 percent higher than China in making phones, and sometimes 10 percent. Labor may be cheaper here, but many major components still have to import. This is the place where schemes like PLI are useful, as they not only pursue high production, but also encourage companies to manufacture more parts at the local level. Experts say that India will take a few years before matching China’s efficiency, but the progress so far is unlikely.

Kavosa said that manufacturing change should also be seen in the context of changing global trade. “International trade relations, especially since we are changing rapidly since the installation of mutual tariffs. We are yet to see whether local manufacturing is permanent or a means of interaction,” they say.