As Apple grapples with United States President Donald Trump’s tariff war with China, it has laid out plans to move to Indian assembly of the majority of iPhones it sells in the US by the end of 2026, a move that would double its current output from the South Asian nation and away from China.
The tech giant produces in China 80 percent of the 60 million iPhones sold in the US and this is a key step that would help it mitigate some of the costs it faces amid rising tariffs on China.
The Financial Times first reported Apple’s plans on Friday.
Apple, a company worth more than $3 trillion, is reportedly engaged in discussions with manufacturers it works with in India, including Foxconn and the Tata Group to execute this plan, according to the news agency Reuters, which cited an unnamed source.
The tech giant has already expanded production in India to counter tariffs imposed during the first Trump administration. The Silicon Valley-based tech giant shipped $2bn worth of iPhones in March, accounting for roughly 600 tonnes of cargo from India to the US — a record for both Tata and Foxconn, according to Reuters.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing the country as a hub for global smartphone manufacturing. Earlier this year, the country removed import taxes for some components for mobile phone production – a boost for companies like Apple.
“If you’re charging import tax for intermediary goods, then you cannot actually be competitive versus somebody who does not. Their objective is to be as competitive as they can be to become the leading manufacturing hub,” Babak Hafezi, chief executive officer at Hafezi Capital, an international consulting firm, told Al Jazeera.
Apple has assembled roughly $22bn worth of iPhones in India during the 12-month period ending March 2025, a 60 percent increase from the year prior, per a Bloomberg report. Even with the growth, only 20 percent of the world’s iPhones are made in India.
Roadblocks
The shift in production will cost Apple. According to a Reuters report citing an unnamed source, manufacturing iPhones in India is 5-8 percent more expensive than in China.
“India will help, but it’s not moving the needle on China’s dependence for Apple. It will take years to make this move, as Apple is caught in the tariff storm,” Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, told Al Jazeera.
Earlier this week, the tech outlet The Information reported that Chinese authorities have created roadblocks for Apple suppliers to move operations from China to India. They have delayed shipments or blocked equipment shipments without explanation. In some cases, Foxconn had export applications denied and others delayed up to four months.
“In terms of core iPhone production, it would take years to move a significant piece from China to India,” Ives added, referring to the phone’s components that are made in China and shipped to India to be assembled into the final product.
Ives also said Apple’s plans to move assembly for US phones completely to India could cost the company $30bn-$40bn.
There are concerns if India’s infrastructure can handle the surge in production, as well.
“They have massive amounts of infrastructure problems in terms of traffic and mobility, and all these different variables that make the cost of the production longer, which eventually cost more money for the company,” Hafezi added.
“You need secure, continuous, and productive infrastructure to maximise manufacturing as best as you can and be globally competitive,” he continued.
Apple’s move comes as the Trump administration has signalled a willingness to ease trade tensions between the US and China, amid concerns about the economic fallout from the tariff war.
On Friday, Trump claimed he had spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping but did not say when the two leaders last talked. In a TIME magazine interview conducted earlier this week, Trump said that his administration has been talking with Beijing to strike a tariff deal. China has denied any trade talks with the US.
But trade talks with India are under way. Earlier this week, US Vice President JD Vance met India’s Modi, during which Vance said the two countries made “good progress” amid an expected bilateral trade agreement.
The news of Apple’s shift to India comes in advance of Apple’s earnings report, which is slated to be released on Thursday.