In April 2025, Apple shipped 2.9 million iPhones to the U.S. from India, marking a 76 percent year-on-year increase from April 2024. The surge reflects Apple’s accelerating shift in production from China to India.
Conversely, iPhone shipments from China to the U.S. fell by 76 percent to about 900,000 units, compared to 3.7 million in April 2024. This reversal highlights Apple’s broader strategy to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid rising geopolitical tensions and U.S. trade tariffs on Chinese goods.
Apple CEO Tim Cook previously noted that by the end of Q3 2025, concluding June 30, most iPhones would be made in India.
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In March, Apple exported 4.4 million iPhones to the U.S. from India, out of the 5 million produced in the country that month.
According to reports, Apple has shipped 11.5 million iPhones to the U.S. from India in the first four months of 2025, slightly trailing the 13.2 million shipped from China over the same period. However, Apple plans to significantly ramp up its Indian output. Based on the U.S. market’s average quarterly demand of 20 million iPhones, projections suggest India could supply up to 80 percent of that volume by the end of 2026.
This production shift is being supported by major investments from Apple’s suppliers. Foxconn, Apple’s key manufacturing partner, recently committed £1.5 billion to its Chennai operations. The Taiwanese electronics giant has also established a new plant in Karnataka, India, which is expected to begin delivering iPhones by June. Meanwhile, Tata Electronics, another key Apple supplier, has expanded its production capacity.
India’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has also been instrumental in attracting these investments, offering financial incentives to manufacturers to boost local output.
A key milestone in India’s iPhone manufacturing journey is its growing capacity to produce premium models, including the Pro and Pro Max variants.
Still, the transition is not without hurdles. U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced concerns over Apple’s overseas production strategy and has threatened a 25 percent tariff on iPhones not made in the U.S. Yet, industry analysts argue that even with such a tariff, manufacturing in India remains more cost-effective for Apple than shifting production back to the United States.
