Top 7 Mobile Exporters in the World: Check Where India Stands

The international environment for the export of mobile phones has been drastically reshaped over the past few years, and now, the Asian economies lead the industry. Currently, as of 2025, the seven top exporters of mobile phones collectively mold the global digital device supply chain, catering to billions of customers globally. 

In a particularly striking instance, India has recently emerged as the world's third-largest exporter of mobile phones, a development that signals sudden industry maturity alongside government efficacy.

India’s mobile phone exports surged from just $0.2 billion in 2017-18 to over $24 billion by 2024, marking nearly a 12,000% increase in under a decade. Moreover, India has transitioned from being a net importer to maintaining a growing export surplus in mobile phones since 2018-19. The country is also increasing the domestic value addition in these exports, currently around 23%, highlighting a maturing manufacturing ecosystem.

Top 7 Mobile Exporters in the World

1. Mainland China

China is the unrivaled champion in mobile phone exports, supplying a large proportion of global supply. With technology behemoths and the globe's largest electronics manufacturing ecosystem, China delivers final assembly and significant value addition for almost all leading phone brands, such as Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Oppo.

2. Hong Kong (SAR, China)

Hong Kong is a vital re-export center, redirecting large volumes of mobile phones and parts—mostly from Mainland China—to other markets around the world. Although not a production base, its sophisticated logistics and facilitation infrastructure make it central to international device flows.

3. India

India is presently the world's third-largest exporter of mobile phones, recording exports worth $20.5 billion in 2024. That's an incredible jump—after only $0.2 billion during 2017-18, a figure that has grown almost 12,000% in under a decade.

The principal reasons for this success:

Government rollout of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in 2020, which encouraged indigenous and foreign investments in assembly of devices and production of components.

Massive influx of top international brands, particularly Apple and Samsung—Apple, for example, now makes and exports the lion's share of its iPhones produced in India.

Deep integration into global supply chains, leading to exports overtaking local demand and a positive net export balance since 2018–19.

The industry now sustains more than 1.7 million jobs, with production increasingly high-domestic value addition.

India's evolution not only made it a global production hub but also created a model for other emerging economies looking for sectoral industrialization.

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4. Vietnam

Vietnam is the world's second-largest mobile exporter. Its steady rise is directly related to enormous investments by multinational corporations—most notably Samsung, which produces a large percentage of its smartphones in Vietnamese production facilities. Vietnam is aided by good trade policies, a low-cost but skilled workforce, and a highly open export-led economy.

5. United States

The U.S. is still a significant player, through high-value shipments of components, semiconductors, and specialist devices, not mass-produced mainstream mobiles. Apple, based in California, exports small volumes of US-made iPhones while supplying the blueprints and ecosystem for production worldwide.

Critical Context and Market Forces:

The PLI Scheme of India is universally recognized as the key driver of the nation's jump, providing sector-specific incentives to domestic startups and international giants alike.

India's mobile export boom came concurrently with a wider policy pivot—away from an import-substitution model of 2014–15 towards a global export-led hub by 2024–25.

Apple and Samsung contributed the most to recent Indian export expansion, with Apple shipping more than 80% of iPhones that are made in India.

Increased domestic content of India's phone exports—direct and indirect domestic value addition climbed to 23% by 2023—indicates a maturing and more domestically reliant electronics ecosystem.

Other nations, the Czech Republic and Poland, have functioned as regional secondary distribution centers for European telephones but lack the size or growth rate of the top seven.

India's rise to the world's third-largest mobile exporter illustrates the possible effect of effectively targeted industrial policy and embracing global value chains, providing a model for other emerging countries looking to achieve high-tech manufacturing success.

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