Apple Increases iPhone Production, Sales Footprint in India

A customer holds an Apple iPhone 13 pro shortly after it went on sale inside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in New York on March 18, 2022. Mike Segar/Reuters

Apple has been quietly diversifying its supply chain beyond China to mitigate economic and geopolitical risks, planting the tech titan’s footprint across Asia.

India is one destination for the iPhone maker.

In September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his “Make in India” initiative, a plan to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub and appeal to companies worldwide. To date, these efforts have spurred substantial foreign investment flows in a broad array of industries, such as automobiles, electronics, and renewable energy.

Industry experts project that India’s manufacturing industry will grow by 4.8 percent annually between 2025 and 2030.

Since 2015, India’s real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product has surged by 72 percent to nearly $4 trillion, making it the world’s fifth-largest economy.

CEO Tim Cook, speaking to CNBC after a June 2023 meeting with the Indian prime minister, described the country as a “huge opportunity.”

Apple is among many U.S. companies that have contributed to the nation’s economy, but market experts debate whether its influence has been sizable or minuscule.

Still, the numbers support the premise that India is quickly transforming into a significant location for Apple’s production and consumption needs.

Apple produces 14 percent of its iPhones in India, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal forecasts that this number will climb to 25 percent in two years.

“Apple, another success story,” Goyal said in 2023. “If I am not mistaken, they are targeting to go up to 25% of their manufacturing. They launched the most recent models from India, manufactured in India.”

Additionally, exports from the South Asian market almost doubled to more than $12 billion in the 2023–2024 fiscal year from the previous year.

In November 2023, top Apple supplier Foxconn Technology announced investing more than $1.5 billion in an Indian construction project to complete the tech giant’s “operational needs.” Foxconn has already launched various construction projects in the country, including a $600 million facility in Karnataka State and a $500 million factory in Telangana state.

Consumers are also scooping up the company’s products.

According to new International Data Corporation figures, Apple is one of the biggest brands in India, and it has become the corporation’s fourth-largest market. At the end of 2024, Apple garnered a 10 percent market share, joining the list of top five brands in India for the first time.

This growth can be partially traced to its physical presence. Over the last few years, Apple has opened several stores in India, including in Mumbai and New Delhi.

While critics say Apple’s reduction in dependence on China will be incremental, the data suggest that it is accelerating.

In November 2022, Reuters analyzed Apple’s available supply chain data. It determined that China was the primary location for 36 percent of its suppliers’ production sites in 2021, down from 47 percent in the five years through 2019.

Meanwhile, unlike the trends unfolding in India, Apple’s dominance in the Chinese smartphone market is gradually diminishing amid expanding competition.

According to recent Canalys research, Apple shipped 13.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024. While Apple retained the top spot in mainland China, its shipments declined by 25 percent year over year.

“Apple and its iPhone 16 series maintained the top spot in Q4 but faced growing competitive pressure from domestic flagship devices,” said Amber Liu, research manager at Canalys.

Huawei shipped 12.9 million units in the final quarter of 2024, up by 24 percent from the previous year. Vivo also shipped 12.9 million units, registering an annualized growth rate of 14 percent.

An Apple Store employee prepares for the opening of business in Beijing on Dec. 6, 2023. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images

Liu noted that Apple has attempted to reverse the trend by “enhancing its high-end competitiveness and user retention” by bolstering the retail experience. These measures have included providing trade-in programs and increasing coverage of interest-free installment plans.

Apple’s New Hurdle: Trump Tariffs on India

One reason Apple decided to shift its supply chain away from China was ongoing trade conflicts with the United States.

During President Donald Trump’s first administration, the world’s two largest economies engaged in tit-for-tat tariff retaliations. Former President Joe Biden had kept his predecessor’s levies in place and added to them toward the end of his term.

In the first month of Trump’s second term, new 10 percent tariffs were implemented on China, which sent Apple shares tumbling more than 3 percent during the Feb. 3 trading session.

The White House has recently announced it intends to expand tariff plans to all of America’s trading partners, including India. Trump said the reciprocal tariffs that could go into effect this spring.

This could be a new hurdle for Apple to overcome.

While India trimmed its average tariff rates from 13 percent to 11 percent to preempt the Trump administration’s agenda, it still maintains one of the highest levies in the world. By comparison, the average tariff rate the United States applies to all goods entering the country is below 3 percent.

After Trump’s trade memorandum last week, the White House confirmed that India’s tariff on U.S. agricultural goods is 39 percent and charges a 100 percent import duty on U.S. motorcycles.

Following his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump announced that he would launch negotiations to tackle “the long-running disparities.”

“As a signal of good faith, Prime Minister Modi recently announced the reductions to India’s unfair, very strong tariffs that limit U.S. access into the Indian market very strongly. And really, it’s a big problem, I must say,” Trump said on Feb. 13.

“India imposes a 30 to 40 to 60 and even 70 percent tariff on so many of the goods and, in some cases, far more than that.”

Although the outcomes of deliberations remain to be seen, a fractured U.S.–India trade relationship could be a new headache for Apple to remedy.

At the same time, potential trade shocks could be mitigated as Apple continues to assess other markets for its supply chain, from Indonesia to Vietnam.

The Epoch Times reached out to Apple for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Reuters contributed to this report.