Apple to make all iPhone 17 models in India for US launch

Apple is expanding iPhone production in India, making all four iPhone 17 models at five factories, including new plants run by Tata Group and Foxconn near Bangalore and Hosur.

This is the first time every new iPhone version, including the Pro models, will be produced in India for US release from launch.

Apple has shifted most US-bound iPhone manufacturing to India in recent months to reduce reliance on China amid shifting tariffs and pandemic-related disruptions.

India’s iPhone exports reached US$7.5 billion in the four months starting April, compared to US$17 billion for the entire previous year.

Tata Group, which acquired Wistron’s factory in Karnataka and owns a controlling stake in Pegatron’s Chennai facility, is set to handle about half of India’s iPhone production over the next two years.

Apple began assembling iPhones in India in 2017 and has expanded local engineering, development, and testing as part of its supply chain diversification.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Tariff pressures accelerate unprecedented supply chain shifts

Apple’s manufacturing pivot demonstrates how trade policies can rapidly reshape global production networks that took decades to establish.

India overtook China as the top smartphone exporter to the U.S., with Indian-made smartphones jumping to 44% of U.S. imports while China’s share dropped to just 25%2.

This represents a dramatic reversal, considering that Apple’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing previously made it particularly vulnerable to trade tensions, with analysts estimating that a 25% tariff could increase iPhone prices by $1603.

The speed of Apple’s expansion is striking. iPhone exports from India accelerated from $17 billion for the entire previous fiscal year to $7.5 billion in just the four-month period beginning in April1.

Apple’s $1.1 billion expected tariff headwind this period shows how trade costs directly drive these geographic shifts, making previously uneconomical manufacturing locations suddenly competitive1.

2️⃣ Manufacturing diversification requires massive infrastructure investment

Apple’s India expansion involves not just shifting existing production but building entirely new manufacturing ecosystems with multiple suppliers.