-Murli Krishnan (from New Delhi)
Apple depends well on China’s factories to make its products. But now this American company is planning to increase production in India. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the quarter results in early May, saying, “Most iPhones sold in the US will now be made in India.”
He also informed that Vietnam will produce almost all the iPads, Mac, Apple Watch and Airports sold in the US. The decision was taken to reduce the impact of the tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump. Due to which Apple’s supply chain, sales and profits were having a huge impact.
Senior Economist of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, accounting Chakraborty said that increasing iPhone production can be a big opportunity but there are some challenges. He told DW, “If deeply understood, prices like competition in prices, strict labor markets and weak supply chains can increase problems.”
Chakraborty said that making iPhones in India may cost 5 to 10 percent more expensive than China, as parts are expensive and factories are also less productivity. He further said, “In addition, it is also necessary to consider the financial impacts of this investment such as tax income, investment in infrastructure and possible subsidy.” They believe that a balanced policy will be necessary to reduce risks and get maximum benefits.
Apple is increasing iPhone production in India
Currently, about 20 percent iPhones are being made in India. According to Bloomberg report, Apple produced about $ 22 billion iPhone in India in the last 1 year by March 2025, which is 60 per cent higher than the previous year. The American company, Apple, is planning to create more than 60 million iPhones every year in India by 2026. Which will not only double production but will also boost India’s electronics construction sector.
In India, mainly 3 companies work to add iPhone parts. Foxconn, a company in the Pagtron Corporation and the Tata Group, earlier known as Vistron. Foxconn is the largest company of these, which handles most of iPhone production work in India. The Government of India has also recently announced a new policy to promote electronics construction.
US President Donald Trump’s import duty and especially his tariff war with China forced Apple to change the strategy. However, the US government later announced temporary relief for tech products such as smartphones and semiconductor and both countries have also agreed to stop the tariff dispute for 90 days.
Increase capacity and defend of supply chain
The founder of Legalviz.in, Srijay Sheth, told DW that India would have to invest heavy in infrastructure, skills and technology to create an independent and self -sufficient manufacturing hub. Apple will also have to bear a large weight of this investment. Sheth said, ‘This is a major victory for India from a business perspective and strengthens it as a business -friendly destination. However, it can also make already sensitive India-China relations more complex. ‘
Sheth believes that the process of bringing a large part of production from China to India may challenge the transfer of technology and expertise. He emphasized this, saying, “It will have to be childish that in the current geopolitical environment, China will hand over its expertise, skilled workers training and production to India so easily to India, especially when it is causing heavy losses of jobs in construction areas.”
He further said, ‘How this scheme will work on real land is a big question. Especially when there is talk of economics, availability of skilled laborers and rebuilding the entire supply chain.
Challenges remain constant
Semacist and expert company at Embedded Systems, CEO, Indissemic co -founder and CEO, Nikul Shah believes that India has the ability to meet the demand for iPhone in future. But for this it is necessary to further strengthen manufacturing ecosystem. He said that with the increase in iPhone production, India could get a big opportunity to increase its role in global electronics manufacturing networks.
But Shah also made it clear, ‘This can be successful only when the challenges related to the infrastructure and the old policy are removed. Those who have interrupted manufacturing competition in India so far. He further said, ‘This step is in line with’ Make in India ‘initiative and has the ability to convert India into a global electronics manufacturing hub. However, some risks also come with it, such as there may be a lot of dependence on any one company and the possibility of geopolitical pressures may also increase.
