'India's Apple and Samsung moment by 2028': Ashwini Vaishnaw on homegrown smartphone debut

India could have its own globally competitive smartphone brands by 2028, with mobile phones designed, manufactured and branded in the country, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit in New Delhi, Vaishnaw expressed confidence that India was moving towards its own “Apple and Samsung moment”, marking a major step in the country's ambition to strengthen its electronics manufacturing and design capabilities.

“This is 23 October 2026. Please note it: 23 October 2028. You will have Indian-designed, Indian-manufactured, Indian-branded mobile phones,” the minister said, setting a two-year timeline for the emergence of homegrown smartphone brands.

Explaining the challenges involved in developing a smartphone, Vaishnaw said designing a modern handset requires several advanced technologies to work together within a compact device.

A smartphone must accommodate radio frequency communication systems, antennas, computing components, memory, passive components, camera modules, a display and power management systems, he said.

“In this small little real estate you have to have radio frequency communication. You have the antenna, compute, memory, all the passive components, a camera module, a display, and power management. Everything has to be built into this small little device. You have to manage the weight, the power management, and everything you have to do within this small little real estate, a small little form factor. That's why it's extremely complex to design a mobile phone,” Vaishnaw said.

He stressed that manufacturers must carefully balance weight, power efficiency and the integration of multiple components, making smartphone design a demanding engineering challenge.

Government Push For Indigenous Smartphone Design

Vaishnaw said efforts to develop India's domestic smartphone design capabilities began several years ago, when the government challenged Indian engineers and technology companies to design printed circuit boards (PCBs), which form the backbone of a mobile phone's electronic systems.

“Three years back we gave this challenge to Indian designers: why can't you design the PCB, which is the motherboard of a mobile phone?” he said.

The minister's remarks highlight the government's push to move beyond manufacturing smartphones in India towards developing products that are designed and branded domestically.

If achieved by the October 2028 deadline outlined by Vaishnaw, the initiative would mark a new phase in India's electronics industry, with homegrown companies aiming to compete in the global smartphone market.

(With IANS inputs)