Sources: Apple plans to move assembly of all US-sold iPhones, ~60M/year, to India by the end of 2026, as President Trump's trade war pushes a pivot from China

FT Exclusive: Tech giant plans to shift assembly as soon as next year in response to Donald Trump's trade war

Financial Times 2025-04-25

Context & Ripple Effects

Apple's India manufacturing push has progressed from plans to assemble high-end models locally to bringing its most expensive iPhone models into Indian production. By 2024, India accounted for as much as 14% of iPhone output, following a reported doubling of locally assembled value as Apple scaled Indian assembly.

This reported move would turn that incremental diversification into a US-market sourcing strategy. It matters because it shifts the question from whether India can produce premium iPhones to whether it can absorb a far larger, geographically concentrated demand stream.

First-order effects

Apple would redirect assembly for roughly 60 million US-bound iPhones a year from China to India by the end of 2026, making India a central production base for its US business.
Indian assemblers, including Foxconn's local operations that had already begun making Pro models, would face a substantially larger production ramp; China's Apple-focused assembly base would lose the corresponding US-bound volume.

Second-order effects

Apple's component and logistics network would need to align more of its India capacity with US delivery requirements, increasing the importance of dependable local assembly execution rather than limited model-by-model production.
The move raises the commercial value of India capacity for Apple's manufacturing partners and gives other electronics brands a clearer example of tariff-driven market-specific sourcing.

Third-order effects

If sustained, the pattern would make iPhone production less China-centric not through a single global replacement hub, but through regional allocation of output by end market and trade exposure.
Trade policy would become a more durable input to consumer-electronics supply-chain design, increasing pressure on manufacturers to maintain viable production options across multiple countries.

The trend: Apple's reported shift is part of a broader move from concentrated global assembly toward trade-resilient, market-specific electronics manufacturing.

Discussion

@robertscotthorton Scott Horton on bluesky
The word in Silicone Valley is that JD Vance/Peter Thiel will secure a protected status for Indian investment and trade. Apple is acting on this strategy now, pivoting away from China. www.ft.com/content/c2be...
@ariehkovler.com Arieh Kovler on bluesky
So instead of Chinese workers screwing the little screws into iPhones, it'll be Indian workers doing it in India. And this supposedly helps the US... how? [embedded post]
@ashwinivaishnaw Ashwini Vaishnaw on x
Immense opportunities FT link: https://www.ft.com/... https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@davidsmith803 @davidsmith803 on x
So much for Tim Cook's speech on how China is the only Country that has the technologically trained workforce to make iPhones on a massive scale!
@refsrc Manish Singh on x
Apple plans to move all US-sold iPhone assembly to India by next year, sourcing the entire annual US supply of over 60 million devices by late 2026 - FT Apple currently assembles about 30-35 million iPhone units in India annually - JPMorgan this week
@rajeevrc_x Rajeev Chandrasekhar on x
Im honored, pleased and chuffed about having played a role as Minister in PM @narendramodi jis govt, in @apple 's growth (and continued growth) in India 😁💪🏻 #NewIndia #IndiaTechade #Electronics https://www.ft.com/...
@apisith84 @apisith84 on x
This means by next year India might be producing ~40% of all iPhones. It would reach the scale necessary to bring the rest of the supply chain. Huge development for India's manufacturing. Trump is really Europe's, India's and ASEAN's biggest gift.
@jchengwsj Jonathan Cheng on x
FT: Apple plans to shift the assembly of all US-sold iPhones to India as soon as next year, according to people familiar with the matter, as President Donald Trump's trade war forces the tech giant to pivot away from China. https://www.ft.com/...
@rakeshsfnyc Rakesh Agrawal on x
Oh no! Those jobs were supposed to come back to the US!
@johnreedwrites John Reed on x
Scoop: Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China https://www.ft.com/... via @ft with @MActon93 @KathrinHille @sjhmorris
@vatsrishap @vatsrishap on x
I think we'd prefer long-term economic stability and relative prosperity over ignorance laced humour that essentially comes from the inevitability of the opposite being one's reality. https://www.ft.com/...
@bytebot Colin Charles on x
Capacity once moved, doesn't return. Goal: source from India the entirety of the more than 60mn iPhones sold annually in the US by the end of 2026. India has to double its iPhone output. USA market is 28% of Apple's iPhone sales.
@hblodget Henry Blodget on x
Apple responds to US trade war by moving US-bound iPhone production to... India (while leaving the rest in China). This is why we're hammering Americans with inflation, layoffs, and business pain?
r/StockMarket r on reddit
Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China, FT reports
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Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China, FT reports | Reuters
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Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China
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Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China
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Report: Apple Plans to Source All US-Bound iPhones From India by 2026

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