Investing.com-- Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) plans to shift assembly of all iPhones sold in the U.S. to India by as soon as next year in a pivot away from China due to increased Sino-U.S. trade hostilities, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
The push will likely be further and faster than investors are anticipating, with a goal to source the entirety of over 60 million iPhones sold in the U.S. annually from India by end-2026, the FT report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The target will entail doubling India’s iPhone output in just over a year- a fraction of the time Apple spent developing its production line in China, which took nearly two decades of heavy investment.
Apple is heavily reliant on China as a manufacturing powerhouse, where the company manufactures several of its products through third parties such as Foxconn (SS:601138). But this reliance leaves the company exposed to steep trade tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump against the world’s second-largest economy.
Apple was seen rushing shipments of iPhones from India earlier in April, after President Trump kickstarted a renewed trade war with China. While Trump did exempt electronics imports from China, he clarified that this was a temporary move, and that he will tariff electronics imports separately.
Trump slapped China with 145% tariffs, to which China retaliated with a 125% levy. Concerns over Apple’s exposure wiped out as much as $700 billion from the tech giant’s market capital.
Apple has been steadily building its production capacity in India through contract manufacturers Tata Electronics and Foxconn. These efforts accelerated in recent years, especially after the company faced some production disruptions in China due to civil unrest.
The company is also facing heightened scrutiny from Beijing, as ties with the U.S. deteriorate. But Apple still manufactures a bulk of its flagship iPhones in China.