Smartphones beat diamonds in exports to US

Nearly 50% of India's FY24 outbound iPhone shipments went to US

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

Smartphones, led by global technology major Apple Inc's iPhones, have quietly surged to become India's largest product export — based on HS (harmonised system) code classification — to the US by value over the past three quarters, overtaking non-industrial diamonds.

In the June quarter of 2024-25, smartphone exports hit $2 billion, well ahead of non-industrial diamond (cut or otherwise but not mounted) exports, which stood at $1.44 billion, according to the latest data from the Department of Commerce.

This shift first occurred in the December quarter of FY24 when smartphone exports to the US reached $1.42 billion, surpassing diamond exports at $1.3 billion. By the final quarter of FY24, the gap widened as smartphone exports in value terms soared by 43 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $2.02 billion, while diamond exports dropped 4.6 per cent to $1.24 billion.