6 days Ago By Kahekashan
In a significant shift in global manufacturing strategy, Apple has reportedly assembled iPhones worth $22 billion in India during the 12-month period ending March 2025. The report, published by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, highlights a dramatic 60% increase in output compared to the previous year—a clear indicator of Apple’s expanding focus on India as a manufacturing base. According to the report, one in every five iPhones—or 20% of Apple’s global iPhone production—is now assembled in India.
This is a notable step in Apple’s broader goal of diversifying its supply chain and reducing its heavy reliance on Chinese manufacturing. India’s growing role in Apple’s production ecosystem was also echoed recently by India’s IT and Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who announced that the company exported iPhones worth ₹1.5 trillion from India in the last fiscal year.
Much of Apple’s local manufacturing takes place at Foxconn’s massive facility in Tamil Nadu, which remains the company’s largest production hub in the country. In addition to Foxconn, Tata Group has become an increasingly important player in Apple’s India operations. Tata now manages two major plants—one in Tamil Nadu and another in Karnataka—after acquiring Wistron’s Indian unit and overseeing Pegatron’s local business.
Apple’s push into India isn’t just about meeting domestic demand. It’s also strategically tied to global trade shifts. Earlier this year, production andexports from India saw a noticeable uptick following former U.
S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of proposed “reciprocal” tariffs on imported goods. While electronics like smartphones and computers were eventually exempted from these tariffs, the political climate encouraged companies like Apple to accelerate efforts to diversify manufacturing locations.
Bloomberg has also noted that Apple may increasingly rely on Indian-assembled iPhones for the U.S. market.
This gives Apple a competitive edge, especially while Chinese imports remain subject to high tariffs—some of which continue to linger around145%. Although smartphones are currently exempt, Trump has stated that the relief is temporary and that tariffs could return in a matter of months. For now,India-made iPhones are not facing those extra import costs, which gives Apple astrong incentive to keep ramping up its Indian operations.
To support this, thecompany has encouraged several of its global suppliers—from China, Japan, andTaiwan—to set up manufacturing in India. Key partners like Sunwoda, Foxlink,and Aequs have already started producing critical components such as batterypacks, cables, and enclosures within the country. Thislocal ecosystem development reflects major progress.
When Apple first beganmanufacturing in India in 2020 under the government’s Production LinkedIncentive (PLI) scheme, the local content used in its devices was estimated atjust 5% to 8%. That figure has now climbed to around 20% for several iPhonemodels—a meaningful step forward in Apple’s effort to localize production. Apple’sjourney in India began back in 2017, starting with the iPhone SE.
Over theyears, production gradually expanded to include a wide range of models such asthe iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and the iPhone 14 Plus. More recently,Apple made a major leap by bringing Pro models into the fold. For the firsttime ever, in late 2024, Apple began assembling the high-end iPhone 16 Pro andiPhone 16 Pro Max in India.
Themanufacturing evolution has followed a clear pattern: starting with older, moreaffordable models and slowly moving toward the latest devices. By 2023,India-made iPhone 15 units were even available on launch day—something that wasunimaginable just a few years ago. Pegatron later joined in to produce the iPhone15 Plus, further broadening the scope of models made in India.
With astronger local ecosystem, growing export numbers, and a deeper push intohigh-end device production, Apple’s $22 billion achievement marks more thanjust a manufacturing milestone. It signals India’s rising importance in theglobal tech supply chain—and Apple’s increasingly strategic bet on thecountry’s future..
