Apple Led, Samsung Follows: India Becomes the World’s Smartphone Launchpad

In a similar strategic realignment with Apple's redirection of the world's supply base, Samsung plans to make India a major manufacturing hub for exporting smartphones to the US. The development follows the increasing US tariffs on Chinese and Vietnamese imports, compelling world technology titans to diversify their supply chains and capitalize on India's growing manufacturing prowess.

 

Key Highlights
Tariff-Driven Shift: With the threat of US tariffs on Vietnamese phones, Samsung is seriously contemplating increasing US-bound production from its Indian plants, following the success of Apple's export scheme.

 

Flexible Manufacturing: Samsung mobile's global president, Won-Joon Choi, has claimed the company's readiness to serve the US market from multiple locations, including India, so as to be able to react swiftly to fluctuations in trade policies.

 

Boosting Export Volumes: Samsung shipped 945,000 Indian phones to the US in the initial five months of 2025, up from 645,000 units during the initial five months of last year. Samsung shipped 11.4 million Indian phones to the world during the first five months of 2025, about half its 2024 figure of 25.3 million units.

 

PLI Scheme Boost: India's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is attracting increasing numbers of international producers. Apple and Samsung together now account for 94% of the Indian exports of smartphones, with Samsung producing flagship devices like the Galaxy S25 Edge from its Noida factory.

 

Capacity for Growth: Samsung factories in India have the capacity to manufacture up to 70 million phones annually, with a rapid growth opportunity to meet increasing export demand.

 

Wider Industry Effect: Motorola and other Android players are also increasing exports out of India, further establishing the country as a global smartphone production powerhouse.

 

Source: The Economic Times, Times of India, Business Standard, Counterpoint Research, AngelOne, Manufacturing Digital, July 2025.