Who Is India's Top Exporter of Electronics?

When you think of India’s electronics exports, you might picture small factories making phone cases or circuit boards. But the real story is bigger - and it’s dominated by one company that ships out more than half of all electronics made in India for overseas markets. That company is Foxconn.

Who Actually Leads India’s Electronics Exports?

India’s electronics export numbers jumped from $4 billion in 2018 to over $22 billion in 2025. That’s a 450% increase in just seven years. But who’s behind that growth? Not a homegrown startup. Not a government-backed firm. It’s Foxconn, the Taiwanese giant that operates under the name Foxconn India Private Limited in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

In 2024, Foxconn accounted for 58% of India’s total electronics exports. That’s more than the combined exports of Samsung, Apple’s other suppliers, and all Indian-made brands like Micromax and Lava. Their main export? Smartphones. Over 80 million units in 2024 alone, mostly iPhones shipped to the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia.

What makes Foxconn so dominant? It’s not just scale - it’s integration. They don’t just assemble phones. They make the screens, the batteries, and even the printed circuit boards inside their own plants. This vertical control cuts costs and speeds up production. A single Foxconn facility in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, exports over 2 million iPhones every week.

How Did Foxconn Take Over?

Foxconn didn’t just show up and start exporting. They moved in after India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme launched in 2020. The government offered cash rewards - up to 6% of production value - to companies that boosted local manufacturing and exports. Foxconn doubled down.

They invested over $10 billion in India between 2020 and 2025. That’s more than Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi combined. They built three massive plants - two in Tamil Nadu, one in Andhra Pradesh - covering over 1,200 acres. Each plant employs more than 25,000 people. Many workers are trained in-house on robotic assembly lines, precision testing, and quality control systems imported from Japan and Germany.

By 2023, Foxconn became the largest private employer in Tamil Nadu. Their supply chain now includes 120 local vendors who make everything from chargers to camera modules. This local sourcing helped them cut lead times and avoid global shipping delays - a big reason why Apple moved 40% of its iPhone production out of China and into India by 2024.

What About Other Players?

Samsung used to be India’s top electronics exporter. They were the first to build a massive plant in Noida in 2018. But by 2022, their export share dropped below 20%. Why? They stuck to lower-end models. While Foxconn was churning out high-end iPhones and iPads, Samsung kept focusing on budget phones like the Galaxy A-series - which have lower profit margins and aren’t exported as heavily.

Apple’s other suppliers, like Luxshare and Pegatron, are growing fast. Luxshare now exports over 10 million units annually, mostly AirPods and Apple Watches. But they still only make up 7% of India’s total electronics exports. No other company comes close to Foxconn’s volume.

Indian brands like Micromax and Lava have tried to export. But their shipments are mostly limited to Africa and the Middle East. They export under 1 million units a year - less than 1% of what Foxconn moves. Their products are cheaper, but they lack the global distribution networks and brand trust that Apple and Samsung have.

What’s Being Exported?

It’s not just phones. Foxconn’s exports include:

• iPhone 15 and 16 models (75% of total volume)
• iPad Air and Pro models (12%)
• Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 (8%)
• HomePod mini and AirPods Pro (5%)

These aren’t just assembled in India - they’re fully certified to meet U.S. FCC and EU CE standards. That means Indian-made iPhones go straight into Apple’s global supply chain without needing extra testing. That’s rare. Most countries can’t do that.

Even more surprising: India now exports more iPhones than Vietnam. In 2024, Vietnam shipped 18 million Apple devices. India shipped 22 million. That’s a shift no one predicted five years ago.

Why Does This Matter?

India’s electronics export boom isn’t just about jobs. It’s about economic sovereignty. Before 2020, India imported 80% of its electronics. Now, over 60% of the phones sold in India are made here. And more than half of what’s made here is sent overseas.

This means India is no longer just a consumer of electronics - it’s a producer. And Foxconn’s dominance shows what happens when global companies partner with local infrastructure, skilled labor, and smart policy. The government didn’t build the factories. Private investment did. But the PLI scheme gave them the confidence to commit.

For India, this is a turning point. If they can keep this momentum, they could become the world’s second-largest electronics manufacturer by 2030 - behind only China.

What’s Next?

Foxconn is already building its fourth plant - this time in Karnataka - to make AI-powered devices and smart home gadgets. They’ve partnered with Indian startups to develop voice assistants and sensor modules locally. By 2027, they plan to export not just iPhones, but also wearable health monitors and IoT hubs.

Other global players are watching. Dell is moving laptop production here. HP is testing assembly lines for tablets. Even Sony is considering making cameras in India. But none have matched Foxconn’s scale, speed, or export volume.

So if you’re asking who India’s top electronics exporter is - the answer isn’t complicated. It’s Foxconn. And until someone else builds a factory that’s twice as big, runs 24/7, and ships out millions of high-value devices every month, that title won’t change.