Our Bureau
New Delhi
India’s manufacturing status has moved up a notch as they have now overtaken China and have become the top source of smartphones sold in the United States. This rise in the manufacturing numbers has happened after Apple Inc. decided to shift to India to assemble more of its iPhones in the country
In the quarter from April to June, the South Asian Country for the first time became the largest manufacturer of smartphones that were shipped to the US. India accounted for around 44% of the market as per the data provided by Canalys. They topped the list followed closely by Vietnam who were second in market coverage on the back of Samsung Electronics Co.’s production. China who just a year ago had somewhere around 60% share of the shipments to US wase reduced to just a 25% share.
The volume of the devices made in India have more than tripled in the past quarter than what they were last year. The stark change can well be constituted to the surge in production by Apple in India. It was reported that Apple’s iPhone shipments to the US have declined by 11%. This showcases how disruptions to their usual pattern due to unusually high shipments to stockpile units earlier in the year. The researchers at Canalys stated, “frontload device inventories amid tariff concerns.”
A senior analyst at Canalys, Runar Bjorhovde said,“Apple built up its inventories rapidly toward the end of Q1 and sought to maintain this level in Q2. Yet, the market only grew 1% despite vendors frontloading inventory, indicating tepid demand in an increasingly pressured economic environment.”
The reason behind this sudden fall of China in the US smartphones market can be marked due to Apple and its peers who are moving productions past China and looking into new countries such as India and Vietnam.
