US pips UAE as largest buyer of Indian-made smartphones, but Russia pays more per piece

US, UAE top destination of smartphone exports

From an importer of smartphones, India is shaping up to be a major exporter of the devices with the US importing the highest 7.6 million units, followed by 3.8 million shipped to the UAE. Russia, however, paid more per unit despite a 700 percent surge in volume.

The top two importers of Indian-made smartphones together made up nearly half of the 26 million exports to 91 countries in the first five months of 2024, shows a Moneycontrol analysis of commerce ministry data.

This is a big leap from 21.5 million smartphones India had exported in 2023 and 5.8 million in 2022. While India’s smartphone exports grew 20 percent in January-May 2024 from the previous year, US shipments surged 71 percent.

Exports to the UAE, on the other hand, declined 37.8 percent, with countries from the European Union raising the imports by over 30 percent from India.

Sources indicate that the growth in India’s smartphone exports seem to have continued in the first six months of the year.

The country exported $10 billion smartphones in the January-June period of 2024, a third higher than $7.5 billion in the first half of 2023.

Smartphone shipments from the country had grown 42.2 percent in FY24 to $15.6 billion, 65 percent of which were Apple iPhones.

However, in terms of value per item, it was neither the US, UAE or their European counterparts that paid the most per smartphone, but Russia and Belarus.

Per smartphone cost was $604 for Belarus and $600 for Russia in the first five months of 2024 compared to $452 for the US and $320 per shipment for the total exports.

While Russia paid 15 percent more per smartphone, for the US cost was up only 2 percent from the previous year.

Russia also trumped most other countries in terms of imports from India, registering an over 700 percent rise, moving eight ranks to 17 from 25 in top nations receiving India’s exports.

The US replaced the UAE as the top importer of Indian-made smartphones, while the Netherlands was replaced by Austria and the UK as top export destinations.

Smartphone exports have also become more spread out. The share of top 10 destinations in India’s smartphone exports fell from 88 percent to 85 percent, destinations like Belarus, Russia and Mexico gaining ground.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that in the first five months of 2024 India exported nearly $8.4 billion worth of smartphones, pipping cereals as India’s eighth most exported products till May 2024 and were in touching distance of replacing vehicles as one of India’s top exports.