The diversification drive has coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to turn the country into a manufacturing hub
[NEW DELHI] Apple exported more than 1.5 trillion rupees (S$23.6 billion) in iPhones from India in the last fiscal year, the nation’s technology minister said on Tuesday (Apr 8), underscoring the company’s efforts to diversify away from China.
As iPhone exports shot up, India has shipped out smartphones worth more than two trillion rupees in the fiscal year to March 2025, a jump of 54 per cent from the previous year, Tech Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a briefing in New Delhi.
Apple has rapidly expanded in India after strict Covid shutdowns paralysed manufacturing at its largest iPhone plant in China. The diversification drive has coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to turn the country into a manufacturing hub.
India’s subsidies have helped Foxconn Technology Group and the electronics manufacturing unit of Tata Group, which bought Wistron and Pegatron’s India factories, scale up local iPhone assembly.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US President Donald Trump’s levies on China – and his threat to impose a further 50 per cent tariff – could push Apple to move more manufacturing towards India and countries in South-east Asia. Still, a complete shift away from the company’s longtime manufacturing hub is unlikely in the short term.
Separately, Apple has been stocking up on inventory in anticipation of the tariffs. And it’s steering more devices made in India to the US market, Bloomberg News has reported. The Trump administration announced plans to impose a “reciprocal” tariff of about 27 per cent on India, a lower level than China.
Apple still ships roughly four-fifths of its iPhones from China, despite efforts to shift production to countries such as India and Vietnam. Rebuilding its complex industrial ecosystem elsewhere has been costly and will likely take years.
China’s robust supply chain is seen as one of the factors giving President Xi Jinping confidence as he negotiates with Trump and projects a defiant image to a domestic audience. BLOOMBERG
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