Apple has plans to assemble all of the iPhones sold in the U.S. in India by the end of 2026, as it accelerates its plans to move its assembly operations outside of China, according to a new Financial Times report.
The ambitious timeline would mark a major acceleration of Apple’s strategy to diversify its supply chain, and would require Apple to double its current Indian iPhone production capacity.
Apple currently manufactures the majority of its iPhones in China, at facilities owned by Foxconn and other production partners. Approximately 28% (232.1 million units in 2024) of the iPhones Apple manufactures are destined for sale in the United States.
Apple’s plans for a shift in its manufacturing comes in the face of a renewed trade war between Apple and China, with President Donald Trump implementing stiff tariffs on imports from China. Apple’s market value dropped by approximately $700 billion, spurring the Cupertino company to fly planeloads of Indian-made iPhones to the U.S. to avoid the stiff tariffs on Chinese goods.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has made nice with President Trump over the last few months, securing a break for Apple from the President’s 145 percent reciprocal tariffs on iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches, and iPads from the bulk of Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports. Cook reportedly conducted phone calls with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other senior White House officials.
Unfortunately for Apple, the exemptions might be short-lived, as the President has said that “no one would be getting off the hook” and that electronics companies would be “moving to a different tariff bucket.”
Apple has gradually been moving manufacturing capacity away from China, working with partners line Tata Electronics and Foxconn to build assembly facilities in India and other countries. India is an attractive country for Apple, as the country is currently working on making a bilateral trade agreement with the U.S., which could provide more favorable trade conditions for companies like Apple.
While Apple is making move to move its manufacturing capacity out of China, Apple will continue to rely heavily on Chinese suppliers for the components used to build iPhones.
Apple has pledged to make a $500 billion investment in the United States, but most of that investment is likely to be made in to construct a new 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility in Houston, where Apple and Foxconn will produce servers for Apple’s Private Cloud Compute system. The new facility is scheduled to open in 2026.
