There was once a time when buyers of new iPhones would know that they were definitely assembled at one of Foxconn's China plants, but those days are long gone. Now, some of Apple's best iPhones are also built beyond China's borders with one 1 in 7 handsets now assembled in India.
According to a new report, Apple assembled a whopping $14 billion worth of iPhones in India over the last fiscal year, a figure that represents a doubling of manufacturing capacity. It comes as Apple remains keen to reduce its reliance on China as a whole amid ongoing uncertainty about the country, its manufacturing capabilities, and beyond.
14% is another figure that represents the number of iPhones that are built in India, a figure that would have seemed unthinkable not that long ago. But worker unrest in Apple's supply chain coupled with previous COVID-19-related lockdown issues in China led Apple to accelerate plans to diversify, moving manufacturing capacity to countries like India and Vietnam.
Diversification
The figure, reported by Bloomberg, shouldn't be downplayed. Apple has been helped on its way, however, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi having offered Apple strong financial incentives to bring its partners' plants to India. According to the report the growth in manufacturing has created around 150,000 jobs at Apple's suppliers in the country.
Government policies “have helped companies such as Apple to expand production in India,” technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reportedly told Bloomberg News. “We will build on this momentum and are committed to a stable and transparent policy regime that’ll turn India into a globally trusted manufacturing hub.”
As for the breakdown, it's said that Foxconn assembled almost 67% and Pegarttron accounted for 17% of the India-made iPhones in the fiscal year that came to an end in March 2024. Wistron made up the remaining number. There are more plans as well, with Tata thought boe set to build the country's biggest iPhone assembly plant.
Despite the move towards Indian manufacturing, Apple CEO Tim Cook was in China recently to reassure officials that the country remained vital to its plans for the future. In a visit that also saw Cook take in the opening of a new Shanghai store, Cook met with China's commerce minister to smooth things over and promise Apple's continued presence in a country that heavily relies on its ability to produce technology for the rest of the world.
Apple's manufacturing partners are set to go into overdrive soon of course. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to be announced in September, although it's yet to be confirmed where Apple's new handsets will be assembled.
Much sooner, Apple is set to announce the new OLED iPad Pro and a refreshed iPad Air lineup as soon as next month. After that, attention will turn to software with Apple's WWDC 2024 event set to give the world its first preview of the new iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro operating systems. None of that software is expected to be made available to the public until the fall, however, likely alongside the arrival of those new iPhones, the rumored Apple Watch X, and a refreshed Apple Watch Ultra.
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