Newsroom
Apple is planning a major shakeup in how, and where, it makes iPhones for the U.S. market. Starting as early as next year, the tech giant wants all iPhones sold in America to be assembled in India, instead of China. The reason? Tariffs. A new round of trade penalties pushed by Donald Trump is making it too expensive to keep production in China.
According to the Financial Times, Apple is aiming to move all of its U.S.-bound iPhone production to India by the end of 2026. That’s more than 60 million phones a year. To pull this off, Apple will need to more than double the number of iPhones it currently makes in India—a country it’s been slowly expanding into over the past few years.
For nearly two decades, Apple relied heavily on Chinese factories like Foxconn to build its devices. But Trump’s trade war, especially the 20% tax on phones imported from China, has made that setup risky and expensive. When tariffs first hit, Apple lost hundreds of billions of dollars in market value and scrambled to ship Indian-made iPhones to the U.S. to avoid extra costs.
India isn’t totally in the clear either. It has its own import tax of 26%, but that’s currently on hold while India and the U.S. negotiate a trade deal. This week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said those talks are going well, raising hopes that Apple could soon enjoy smoother sailing in India than in China.
But not everything is simple. While final assembly might move to India, many of the parts still come from China. In fact, Apple partners like Foxconn and Tata have been importing pre-assembled components from China to keep up with rising demand in India.
“This is a smart move to keep Apple growing,” said Daniel Newman, head of the tech research firm Futurum Group. “They’re moving fast to avoid getting hit hard by new tariffs.”
Apple has stayed quiet about the switch for now. The company is set to report earnings next week, and investors will be watching closely to see how these changes affect its bottom line.
Bottom line? If you’re buying an iPhone in the U.S. a couple of years from now, there’s a good chance it’ll say “Made in India” on the box.
