Apple plans to move the production of iPhones sold in the US market from China to India. About this informs Financial Times.
The decision is due to the trade war initiated by Donald Trump, which forces the company to reduce its dependence on China. The relocation was part of Apple’s strategy to diversify its supply chains, but the scale and pace of the strategy’s implementation turned out to be higher than investors’ expectations.
The company’s goal is to fully ensure the production in India of all 60 million iPhones that are supplied to the US market every year by the end of 2026. The move would mean a significant increase in manufacturing in India, effectively doubling Apple’s presence in the country after nearly two decades of heavy investment in a manufacturing base in China.
China, where the majority of iPhone production is currently concentrated through contractors such as Foxconn, has been hit by tough tariffs imposed by the US administration. Although Trump later expressed a willingness to negotiate with Beijing, the consequences for Apple were severe: the company lost about $700 billion in market capitalization.
To minimize the impact of tariffs, Apple began actively exporting iPhones assembled in India to the US market. In recent years, the company has gradually expanded production capacity in India through collaborations with Tata Electronics and Foxconn, although the bulk of device assembly is still concentrated in China.
Assembling the iPhone is the final stage of the manufacturing process, involving the integration of hundreds of components, and in this area Apple is still largely dependent on Chinese suppliers.
According to the International Data Corporation, in 2024 the US accounted for approximately 28% of the 232.1 million iPhones shipped by the company to the global market. In order to carry out plans for a full transfer of production for the American market, Apple will have to significantly increase the capacity of its production sites in India.
