US global company Apple has significantly increased iPhone production in India over the past year amid the Donald Trump administration’s tariff war with China.
According to Bloomberg News on the 13th, Apple’s iPhone production in India from April last year to last month amounted to $22 billion (based on the factory price).
That’s up nearly 60% from the same period last year, which brings India’s share of global iPhone production to around 20%.
According to the Indian Ministry of Technology, 1.5 trillion rupees worth of iPhones produced in India were exported to foreign countries during this period.
In particular, iPhone exports from India to the U.S. have soared since President Trump announced a policy of imposing mutual tariffs in February, officials said.
According to Reuters, Apple has used six chartered planes to fly about 1.5 million iPhones and 600 tons of iPhones from India to the United States since last month to avoid imposing mutual tariffs.
Apple is reportedly planning to further increase the supply of iPhones produced in India in the U.S. market in the future.
As President Trump focuses on ultra-high tariffs on China, he aims to reduce the tariff burden by supplying products produced in India, which has relatively low tariff rates, to the United States.
However, the Trump administration excluded smartphones and computers from mutual tariffs on the 12th local time in the United States.
As a result, the additional 125% mutual tariffs imposed on China by the U.S. will not apply to Chinese-made iPhones, but the 20% tariffs imposed on China separately from the mutual tariffs will remain.
As a result, Indian-made iPhones, which are exempt from smartphone mutual tariffs, have a price-wise advantage in the U.S. market over Chinese-made products subject to a 20% tariff.
Apple is trying to reduce its share of Chinese production, but it has about 200 suppliers and is so dependent on China that it is difficult to move production sites to other countries in a short period of time.
In particular, although the Trump administration has clearly stated its intention to make iPhones produced in the U.S., Bloomberg observed that Apple is unlikely to move its production sites to the U.S. due to lack of production facilities and manpower.
Apple started production of older iPhones in India in 2017, but has been trying to diversify iPhone production locations to India after severe production disruptions at factories in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the iPhones produced in India are assembled at Foxconn plants in southern India, with Indian company Tata Electronics and others also major suppliers.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
