When Will India Get Its Own Apple, Samsung? Ashwini Vaishnaw Reveals Timeline

India could have its own mobile phone brand, designed and manufactured in the country, by October 2028, according to Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.Responding to a question from NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal on why India does not have a homegrown rival to Apple or Samsung, Vaishnaw said the country was developing the capabilities needed to design its own smartphones. "This is October 23, 2026... You'll have Indian brand mobile phones designed and manufactured in India by October 23, 2028.. please note it," Vaishnaw said at the NDTV World Summit 2026.His remarks come at a time when India is moving towards its next phase in electronics manufacturing -- from assembling smartphones for global companies to developing products under Indian brands, with domestic design capabilities and intellectual property (IP).Why Is It Difficult To Build An Indian Apple?Designing a smartphone is a complex task because several technologies and components must work together in a compact device.Vaishnaw pointed out that a mobile phone requires radio frequency communication, antennas, computing capabilities, memory, passive components, camera modules, displays and power management systems. Manufacturers must also manage the device's weight and power consumption."For a mobile phone, you have to have radio frequency communication. You have the antenna. You have compute, you have memory, you have all the passive component," he said. "That's why it's extremely complex to design a mobile phone," the minister added.India has made significant progress in smartphone manufacturing, but developing a globally competitive brand requires more than setting up factories. It also involves designing the underlying hardware, developing intellectual property and building the expertise to integrate multiple components into a finished product.How India Is Building Smartphone Design CapabilitiesVaishnaw said the government had challenged Indian designers to develop smartphone circuit boards, or printed circuit boards (PCBs), around three years ago.The PCB serves as the foundation on which a phone's electronic components are connected. Designing it requires expertise in hardware architecture and the integration of different systems."Three years back, we gave this challenge to Indian designers. Why can't you design the PCB, which is the motherboard of mobile phone. Why can't you design that?" he said.According to the minister, two companies took up the challenge, and one of them developed a design that was selected by a major US telecom service provider.He said the company had designed and delivered a 5G-plus mobile phone to one of the largest telecom service providers in the US. The device has already been manufactured and delivered to customers, he added.The example, Vaishnaw suggested, demonstrates that Indian companies are beginning to develop capabilities beyond contract manufacturing. However, he did not identify the companies involved or the telecom service provider. The next step, according to Vaishnaw, is to use the capabilities developed over the past few years to create an Indian mobile phone brand. "Now we will use that capability to have the Indian brand, Indian design, Indian IP," he said.