{"id":632575,"date":"2026-03-10T08:06:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=632575"},"modified":"2026-03-10T08:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T06:14:03","slug":"big-change-for-iphones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/smartphones\/632575-big-change-for-iphones.html","title":{"rendered":"Big change for iPhones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Apple increased iPhone production in India by about 53% last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company\u2019s efforts to avoid tariffs on China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India in 2025, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren\u2019t public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India\u2019s share of the total increasing rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple has accelerated its expansion in the world\u2019s most populous country in recent years, bolstered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s production-linked incentives aimed at turning India into the world\u2019s factory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subsidies have helped offset some of the structural cost disadvantages that manufacturers face in India, including the lack of a China-like robust supply chain and logistics challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, shipments from China, where Apple still makes the bulk of iPhones, faced headwinds as a result of US tariffs related to the two economic powers\u2019 trade war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The levies pushed Apple and its suppliers to move a greater share of devices meant for the American market to alternative manufacturing destinations, with India emerging as a major brightspot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the gap has narrowed, electronics assembly and component manufacturing still costs more in India than in countries including China and Vietnam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s prompted Apple, Samsung Electronics, and others to seek more government support. Companies are discussing with New Delhi another round of incentives to support export growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s current production subsidies for smartphones expire March 31 and with the US Supreme Court\u00a0striking down\u00a0some of the duties affecting China, India needs to move quickly to remain cost competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cupertino, California-based Apple currently assembles all versions of the latest iPhone 17 lineup in India, including the high-end Pro and Pro Max models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two manufacturing bases<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apple’s suppliers in India, including Foxconn Technology Group, Tata Electronics and Pegatron, also build older models such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 for local sales and export.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rising output in India highlights Apple\u2019s long-term supply chain strategy to build a second major iPhone manufacturing base to serve global demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is deepening and widening its local supplier partnerships to make components including lithium-ion cells, watch and phone enclosures and accessories such as AirPods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond manufacturing, Apple is targeting market share gains in a region where sales have\u00a0surged\u00a0past $9 billion (R146.82 billion). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s preparing to\u00a0launch\u00a0Apple Pay in India later this year and its retail network now comprises six stores, underscoring the country\u2019s growing importance as not just a production hub but also a fast-growing consumer market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple increased iPhone production in India by about 53% last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company\u2019s efforts to avoid tariffs on China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":619523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17934],"tags":[605,98339,129,2078,5388,80148,96966,101395,48152,2002,52563,103686,99555],"class_list":["post-632575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smartphones","tag-apple","tag-apple-iphones","tag-china","tag-foxconn","tag-india","tag-iphone-15","tag-iphone-16","tag-iphone-17","tag-iphones","tag-pegatron","tag-smartphone-manufacturing","tag-tata-electronics","tag-us-tariffs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632575"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":632585,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632575\/revisions\/632585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}