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China’s grip slips: Apple now assembles 25% of iPhones in India

MacDailyNews

Mar 10

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iPhone 17 features the Center Stage front camera, a fantastic 48MP Dual Fusion camera system, a bigger and brighter 6.3-inch display with ProMotion, and great all-day battery life. — Apple’s iPhone 17

Apple ramped up iPhone assembly in India by roughly 53% last year, now assembling about a quarter of its flagship devices there as the company accelerates its shift away from Chinese Communist Party-controlled China.

The tech giant assembled around 55 million iPhones in India in 2025, up sharply from 36 million the prior year, amid ongoing efforts to diversify its supply chain amid geopolitical tensions and trade pressures.

Apple has aggressively expanded in the world’s most populous nation in recent years, aided by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme designed to position India as a global manufacturing powerhouse. These government subsidies have helped counter some of India’s inherent challenges, such as a less mature supply chain than China’s and persistent logistics hurdles.

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The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India in 2025, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren’t public. Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India’s share of the total increasing rapidly.
In 2025, shipments from China, where Apple still makes the bulk of iPhones, faced headwinds as a result of US tariffs related to the two economic powers’ trade war. The levies pushed Apple and its suppliers to move a greater share of devices meant for the American market to alternative manufacturing destinations, with India emerging as a major brightspot.
Even though the gap has narrowed, electronics assembly and component manufacturing still costs more in India than in countries including China and Vietnam. That’s prompted Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and others to seek more government support.
Companies are discussing with New Delhi another round of incentives to support export growth.
Cupertino, California-based Apple currently assembles all versions of the latest iPhone 17 lineup in India, including the high-end Pro and Pro Max models. Its suppliers in India, including Foxconn Technology Group, Tata Electronics and Pegatron Corp., also build older models such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 for local sales and export.

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MacDailyNews Take: Apple isn’t just diversifying, it’s thriving. And, based on the pace of progress in India in the last few years, that 25% could easily become 30%, 40%, or more.

Hopefully sooner than later, it’ll be “China who?” India is Apple’s new best product assembly friend, and the future is finally looking delightfully decentralized!

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