No more 'Made in China' iPhones in the US

India is about to become the country that assembles the majority of iPhones for Apple. Photo: Bloomberg.

According to some insiders, Apple plans to move its iPhone assembly operations for export to the US market to India as early as 2026. This comes after President Donald Trump put trade pressure on China, forcing Apple to come up with a plan to move its assembly plants to markets with lower tax rates.

The Financial Times said Apple’s latest move is based on a strategy to diversify its supply chain. In particular, the iPhone factory is implementing its plan faster than investors expected. They aim to import all of the more than 60 million iPhones assembled in India to the US market. To realize this ambition, Apple will ask its partners in the South Asian country to double their assembly capacity.

After nearly two decades of spending heavily in China to create the world's largest manufacturing base, the company has grown into a $3 trillion tech giant. The country, which manufactures the bulk of iPhones through third parties like Foxconn, has been hit with hefty tariffs from President Donald Trump.

Following the announcement of the new tariffs, Apple's market value quickly dropped by $700 billion , leading the company to quickly export its India-made iPhones to the US to avoid the additional costs.

In recent years, Apple has steadily boosted its manufacturing capacity in India through partners such as Tata Electronics and Foxconn. However, it still assembles the majority of its smartphones in China.

Initially, Mr. Trump announced a “reciprocal” tariff of more than 100% on imports from China, but then issued a temporary reprieve on electronics. This product group is still subject to the 20% tariff that applies to all imports from China.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the US will account for about 28% of the total 232.1 million iPhones sold globally in 2024. Therefore, Apple needs to add more production capacity in India to meet all orders for the US market.

Source: https://znews.vn/apple-sap-rut-khoi-trung-quoc-post1548686.html