In This Article:
American technology giant Apple is looking to source most iPhones sold on the US market from India rather than China by 2026, as companies with globalised supply chains look to adjust to Trump's tariffs and an environment of geopolitical uncertainty.
The shift would see Apple double its output in India, which is currently over 40 million units, to over 80 million, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The US currently sells over 60 million iPhones in the US annually.
Apple has spent the last few decades perfecting its manufacturing processes in China. Its manufacturing supplier, Foxconn, built the world's largest iPhone factory in the eastern Chinese city of Zhengzhou, which has been dubbed "iPhone City."
However, the COVID pandemic pushed the firm to start diverting some of its manufacturing away from China as strict lockdowns revealed vulnerabilities in its supply chain. Now, with the imposition of harsh tariffs on China by US President Donald Trump, this process has taken on a new accelerated pace.
While US levies on China currently stand at 145%, Trump issued an exemption for phones and other electronics on 11 April. However, these still face an earlier imposed rate of 20% tariffs in China.
The electronics exemption means that iPhones would not face the 26% tariff rate applied to India as part of the 'reciprocal' tariffs. Also, most of the 'reciprocal' tariffs are currently on pause after Trump announced a 90-day delay a week after the original announcement.
As countries rush to make trade deals with the US ahead of the three months deadline, Vice President JD Vance's recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his trip to India suggests they are in the lead. The leaders said they were making "significant progress" on a trade deal.
Google is also set to shift manufacturing of its Pixel devices from Vietnam to India as it contends with tariff uncertainty. In 2019, it had already shifted production from China to Vietnam, looking to avoid US-China tariffs during Trump's first presidency.
The moves suggest that Trump's stated goal of encouraging reshoring and US production through tariffs might just push companies to shift their supply chains to other low-cost manufacturing hubs with the lowest tariffs.
"Apple to shift iPhone production to India" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.