#INTHEAIREVERYWHERE
Thursday
January 30,
2025
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#INTHEAIREVERYWHERE |
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| Vol. 24 No. 4 | Thursday
January 30,
2025 |
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iPhone Better Than a Diamond |
The iPhone you’re holding -- one out of every seven iPhones is made in India -- was likely manufactured in India. Apple’s iPhone shipments from India have crossed $10.7 billion in 2024 and, according to reports, it has overtaken the combined sales of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturers, Hindustan Unilever and Nestle. Apple has beaten Samsung in smartphone sales for the second year in a row in India, according to market researcher IDC India, according to business daily Economic Times. iPhone shipments in India in the September quarter was at 4 million units and IDC pointed out that Apple was on target to send out more than 12 million iPhone units in India in 2024. 
iPhones 14, 15 and 16 along with Pro and Pro
Max models are exported from India to Europe, West Asia and the U.S. The
highest taker of smartphones from India was the U.S. In FY19, India exported
smartphones worth $5.23 million to the U.S. but in FY24, the figure shot
up to $5.56 billion giving it the status of the second-largest exported
product to the U.S. after diamonds. In April-August 2024, smartphone exports
touched $2.8 billion to become the largest exported item to the U.S. Diamond
exports were at $2.1 billion for the same period.Smartphone exports mean good times for the air cargo sector and the surge in exports has come at a good time for Air India. The carrier is boosting its cargo capacity. It wants its belly cargo capacity to go up four-fold when it starts inducting the 470 Airbus and Boeing aircraft on order from 2025. Air India’s parent company, Tata Group has Wistron’s India operations under its belt and iPhone shipments would be Air India’s top choice. The Taiwan-based Wistron is part of the three iPhone contract manufacturers in India, the other two being Foxconn and Pegatron. On January 28, Reuters reported that Tata Electronics bought a 60% stake in Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron’s India unit– it employs 10,000 people and produces five million iPhones annually -- near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. This further solidifies Tata Group’s position as an Apple supplier. There is more good news from the mobile phone industry in India for air cargo stakeholders. In a recent move, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) -- the apex industry body of mobile and electronics industry – has desired more air cargo capacity to accommodate the rise in exports. ICEA figures point out that total electronics exports were $29.1 billion for the financial year 2023-24, of which mobiles stood at $15 billion. The ICEA asked Indian airports to be prepared for an eight-fold increase to $180 billion in mobile exports by 2030. To accommodate that huge growth, mobile phone players want Indian airports to ramp up their existing cargo handling capacity to support a projected eight-fold increase in device exports to $USD 180 billion by 2030, industry body ICEA said.  Speaking
to top Indian news agency Press Trust of India, ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo
highlighted that the airport infrastructure at several airports had almost
reached saturation levels since they were “operating at 80-100 percent
of their capacity”. He said that the present levels were reason enough
for “expansion of existing airports and developing new ones”.He also mentioned that the target of achieving $500 billion of electronics by 2030 demanded airport capacity to handle $180 bn of exports. “By 2030, electronics will not only be India's top two exports (at the rate of $180-200 billion per year), but also significantly larger in terms of air cargo compared to any other export from India,” according to Mohindroo. While mobile phones comprise 55% of India’s exports from Delhi airport, Chennai and Bangalore take up 30% and 10%. The ICEA Chief said most of the airports lacked truck parking, docking and loading/unloading for integral cargo handling activities. To add to the delays, customs procedures were time-consuming. In China, for example, the factory to take-off is achieved on Day 1, but in India, this happens on Day 2. The Indian government is keen to boost exports and has an ambitious plan to establish 50 airports in the next five years. The Greenfield Noida International Airport – the second international airport in Delhi and the National Capital Region – will begin operations in April 2025 with 30 flights, of which three will be international and two cargo. Noida incidentally has Samsung’s mobile phone factory. Additionally, investments have been planned to set up a Greenfield airport at Parandur near Chennai, the hub of iPhone manufacturing in India. A masterplan is to be created by the end of 2025 with civil construction work starting by the end of 2026. Parandur Airport is projected to be completed and opened in 2028. Tirthankar Ghosh |
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 Vol.
24 No. 1Lucy In The Sky & AA Cargo Chuckles for January 6, 2025 Air India Launches New Americas Service Delicacies In The Air |
 Vol. 24 No. 2 Port Strike Averted Chuckles for January 14, 2025 EMO Trans By The Book Fruit Logistica February 5 |
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Publisher-Geoffrey Arend • Managing
Editor-Flossie Arend • Editor Emeritus-Richard Malkin |
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