India Smartphone Exports Surge 39% to US: ICEA Report

New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) India's smartphone exports have surged 39 per cent to about USD 1.53 billion in August 2025 compared to a year ago, ICEA has said, adding exports to the US more than doubled in the same period as it countered claims of any decline.

Smartphone exports to the US in the first five months of FY26 reached USD 8.43 billion, from USD 2.88 billion during the same period in FY25, nearly a three-fold increase, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) said in a release.

The US figure for April-August 2025 has already reached nearly 80 per cent of the entire FY25 US exports total of USD 10.56 billion, the association representing industry biggies asserted.

"Smartphone exports in August 2025, in contrast to the claims made, have increased by 39 per cent from USD 1.09 billion in August 2024 to USD 1.53 billion in August 2025. Further, exports to the US more than doubled, increasing by 148 per cent, from USD 388 million in August 2024 to USD 965 million in August 2025," ICEA said in the release.

It pointed out that "contrary to claims", there has been a massive increase, not decline, in smartphone exports to the US, both for August and the five-month period across the current and previous fiscals.

"Every export sector has its particular nuances based on multiple factors. Oversimplification of trade data - and worse - inferences based on monthly comparisons are misleading and avoidable," Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman of ICEA, said.

It argued that August and September are usually the lowest smartphone export months.

Export data over the last five years shows that exports of smartphones are usually lowest during August and the first half of September.

Explaining this, ICEA said the companies launch new models in end-September and October ahead of the festival season. As a result, global customers who are awaiting the launch of new models sharply reduce their purchase of smartphones during August.

This leads to a drop in exports.

Even customers who buy older models await the launch of new models since such launches are accompanied by deep discounts on older models.

As a result, exports of older models also drop sharply, ICEA said, adding that they pick up in October.

Further, August and early September also see large-scale retrofitting of plant and machinery to prepare for new models, which leads to a reduction in output and in turn, exports.

This is carefully planned to coordinate with demand.

"Finally, during September and early October, depending on Diwali and dates of festivals in India, exports drop till early- to mid-October since companies divert production to serve the peak in domestic festival-led consumption," it added.

After Diwali, global exports pick up since international demand increases for all models, propelled by Thanksgiving holidays, Black Friday, Christmas and New Year sales in Western countries.

"It's also worth noting that the smartphone sector has been the best performing export sector in India over the last five years since the launch of the PLI scheme, increasing its position from 167th in FY15 to India's largest export by HS code by FY25," it said.

ICEA said as the industry body for mobile phones, electronics, and semiconductors manufacturing, it regularly publishes production and export data, which corresponds with the government data on electronics production, especially smartphones.

It said that a recent commentary has "drawn improper conclusions related to smartphone exports by cherry-picking data, leading to wrong inferences and without proper context", and added that "the record needs to be set straight".

As prudent practice, trade data is usually compared across similar periods of different fiscals, and rarely across months in a single fiscal, to conclude meaningful trends, it said.

Think-tank GTRI on Monday said India's smartphone exports to its largest market, the US, fell 58 per cent from USD 2.29 billion in May to USD 964.8 million in August.

It said that the development is alarming and counterintuitive, as there are no tariffs on smartphones.