Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is reportedly ramping up iPhone production in India at five factories, including a pair of recently opened plants, as it seeks to lessen its reliance on China for US-bound models.
The company is producing all four iPhone 17 models in India ahead of their debut next month, marking the first time that all new variations—including pro-level versions—will ship from the South Asian country from the get-go, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The tech giant has increased the number of local factories making iPhones after shifting the vast majority of the device’s production for the U.S. market to India from China in efforts to lessen the impact of tariffs.
In the four months starting in April, $7.5 billion worth of iPhones were exported from India. It marks an acceleration from the $17 billion worth of iPhones exported from India over the entire previous fiscal year, the report said.The expansion includes Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu state’s Hosur and Foxconn Technology Group’s (OTCPK:FXCOF) production facility near the Bangalore airport, which have both come online recently.
In a sign of Tata’s increasing role as an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) partner, plants controlled by the local conglomerate will account for as much as half of India’s iPhone output over the next two years, said the people.
The Trump administration has so far excluded electronics such as the iPhone from broad sectoral tariffs, though they may still face duties from individual countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Apple’s (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook earlier this year to stop building facilities in India, targeting the company’s intention to diversify its manufacturing footprint beyond China.