US iPhones Made In India Solve Apple’s Tariff Problem, But Not Its China Problem

According to the Financial Times, which cited sources “knowing this issue,” Apple plans to assemble in India, all iPhone devices that are aimed at the United States by the end of 2026. The majority of iPhone devices in Apple are currently made in China, but Chinese Chinese products have become a toxic advantage of American import.

The United States government imposed a 145 percent tariff on goods from China. While smartphones are listed in delaying 90 days, they were announced in early April, Trump indicated that this exclusion is already temporary. Are you ready to pay $ 2,949 for the basic storage of iPhone 17 Pro Max?

The supposed transformation of Apple to manufacture to India is an insurance policy against such chaos in the future, but it did not start here. In December 2024, we wrote about Apple’s increasing dependence on India to manufacture as Blueck against American -Chinese tensions.

The Indian production of iPhone began in 2017, starting with low -cost iPhone SE. The country began to produce the leading iPhone devices in 2023.

Although it is the best part of a decade of time in the Indian iPhone manufacturing, this alleged recent shift in the strategy still represents a very expensive turbine shipment for its efforts-and at least to double production from the Indian production factories from Apple. WIRED approached Apple to comment, but he did not receive a response at the time of publication.

How many Indian iPhone devices?

Our estimates say that Apple produced about 40 to 43 million [iPhones] In India last year, says Navkendar Singh, IDC India’s assistant vice president, says about 12 or 13 million in the entire India market, and the rest has been exported. “

More than 60 million iPhone devices are sold in the United States every year, as the series leads a market share for smartphones by 57 percent, according to some estimates. So about 80 to 85 million [iPhones] “They will need production in India, if Apple desires to satisfy the American demand at the current levels while submitting the demand for the local Indian market as well,” says Singh.

This expansion not only depends on Apple investments. As in all the main production efforts of Apple, any Indian expansion will include partners, especially Tata Electronics, Foxconn and Pegatron.

“Tata is working completely at the present time,” says Singh. Tata is the main strength behind the Indian iPhone manufacturing. It runs a collection factory in Tamil Nadu, in the south of the country. It acquired the Karnataka facility for Wistron in Wistron in 2023, and in January 2025, it was closed to a majority of 60 percent of the Taiwanese Pegatron Company.

This in turn represents the unification of the Indian IPHONE production that is supervised by an Indian company, Tata Electronics. Foxconn, PEGATRON and Wistron are all Taiwanese companies, although global access and importance.

Factory problem

The Tata -led Apple production is not completely smooth yet. In 2023, the Hosur’s Tata, which produced iPhone, was only 50 percent, as half of the components failed in Apple’s strict quality examination. This is a very low return rate, highlighting the importance of the skilled and effective manufacturing process.

“There is no sense of urgency,” one of the former apple engineers told the Financial Times, speaking about Apple’s Indian operations in 2023.