India smartphone exports could cross USD 1.5 bn in 2020: techARC

India is expected to export smartphones worth USD 1.5 billion (over Rs 11,113 crore) this year to various countries, including the UAE, the US and Russia, according to a report by research firm techARC.

TechARC, in its India Mobile Phone Exports Market Scan Report, pegged the total exports of smartphones to cross USD 1.5 billion by value in 2020, with smartphones accounting for over 98 per cent of the total mobile phones exported from the country.

"India has been exporting mobiles to destinations like UAE and neighbouring SAARC countries for quite some time. However, 'Make in India' initiative has made India a truly global exporter of mobile phones," techARC founder and Chief Analyst Faisal Kawoosa said.

He added that India currently exports to 24 countries, some of which are further re-exporting, like UAE, to other markets, making India-made phones available to millions of users.

He further stated that the recently announced production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme will further strengthen India's positioning in the global mobile market and complement manufacturers' goal of making India a global hub of mobile production.

PLI scheme extends an incentive of 4 to 6 per cent on incremental sales (over the base year) of goods under target segments that are manufactured in India to eligible companies, for a period of five years subsequent to the base year (2019-20).

Last month, the government had cleared 16 proposals from domestic and international companies entailing an investment of Rs 11,000 crore under the PLI scheme to manufacture mobile phones worth Rs 10.5 lakh crore over the next five years.

The techARC report said a total of 12.8 million mobile phones were exported from India between January and September this year. Of this, 10.9 million were smartphones.

"COVID-19 had a severe impact on the exports with volume sharply falling to 1.2 million in April-June quarter from 7.4 million in January-March period. For July-September quarter, the exports were at 4.2 million units indicating recovery due to restoration of supply chain and logistics as well as resumption of work in Indian factories," the report added.

Samsung leads the exports significantly with 11.6 million units of phones, distantly followed by Xiaomi at 0.6 million shipments, the report noted.

Samsung exported 9.8 million units of smartphones, followed by Xiaomi at 0.6 million and Lava at 0.2 million smartphones. The other smartphone exporters in top 5 are Vivo and OnePlus.

"Lava has emerged as the 'torchbearer' Indian brand which is not only the lone domestic brand exporting mobiles but also pecks in top 5 brands," the report said. It added that while 21 brands are exporting mobile phones from India, 17 brands are exporting smartphones.

Seven brands are exporting mobile phones from India to the US.

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Also, Samsung A51 is the most exported smartphone from India, while the top 10 smartphones exported from India are from Samsung.