Photo: Cult of Mac
Everyone knows iPhone is made in China, right? Well, yes and no. A new report indicates that as many as 14% of Apple handsets are actually produced in India.
It’s part of Apple diversifying where its products are assembled to reduce its dependence on China.
India takes on greater role in iPhone production
Although iPhone components come from around the world, the actual assembly of the devices generally happens in China. But not all of it… Apple has increased the number of iPhones assembled in India in recent years.
And there’s been significant progress in the switch. “The US tech giant now makes as much as 14% or about 1 in 7 of its marquee devices from India,” reported Bloomberg on Wednesday. That’s $14 billion worth of iPhone units in 2023.
About two-thirds of the iOS handsets assembled in India come from Foxconn plants, according to Bloomberg. The remainder is fairly evenly split between Pegatron and Tata Group after Wistron dropped out of iPhone assembly in the country. Foxconn and Pegatron also make Apple handsets in China.
Moving iPhone production to India has been a boon for the economy: 150,000 jobs have been created at Apple suppliers in the South Asian nation.
Apple still depends on China
Despite the growing role of India in iPhone assembly, the majority still come from China. And Chinese consumers are important for the company, too. In the final quarter of 2023, they bought $20.8 billion in Apple products.
But there are calls from both the U.S. political right and left to pull Apple’s production and products out of China. Reasons range from distrust of the country’s authoritarian leadership to China’s human rights record.
Even so, the company may be diversifying iPhone assembly for a more pragmatic reason. China took a very hard line on COVID-19, putting lockdowns on whole cities in hopes of preventing its spread. This reduced the number of iPhone units that could be assembled in the country, hurting Apple’s bottom line. It might have been a reminder of the dangers of putting all of one’s eggs in the same basket.