Apple is reportedly accelerating its plan to move the assembly of all iPhones sold in the US to India, as the company seeks to reduce its dependence on China amid ongoing trade tensions with the US.
The shift, which could take place this year, represents a significant step in Apple’s broader strategy to diversify its manufacturing operations away from China. However, recent reports suggest that this transition is facing increasingly aggressive pushback from Chinese authorities. Beijing, it appears, is not letting Apple go without a fight.
The iPhone maker is preparing to shift all assembly of iPhones bound for the US to India as early as next year, according to the Financial Times. The move marks a deepening of Apple’s supply chain overhaul as it attempts to insulate itself from Washington’s increasingly confrontational stance towards Chinese-made tech goods.
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The multi-trillion-dollar company has long relied on China as the heart of its manufacturing ecosystem. Around 90% of iPhones sold globally are still assembled there, largely through partners like Foxconn. But that dominance has come under growing threat since Trump began slapping steep tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports, including tech products.
Apple was briefly one of the biggest stock market casualties of the trade war until the White House carved out a temporary exemption for smartphones. Even with that reprieve, Apple still faces a 20% levy on Chinese goods as the US hardens its stance over China’s alleged role in producing Fentanyl.
In response, Apple has been trying to shift production capacity to India, and those efforts have intensified. The company is already diverting millions of iPhones assembled at its Indian facilities, operated by Foxconn and Tata, to the US. In March, nearly $2 billion worth of iPhones were shipped from India to the US, a record high. Apple even chartered cargo planes to move 600 tons of iPhones, equivalent to 1.5 million devices, just to shore up US inventory ahead of potential trade disruptions. The company’s largest Foxconn facility in Chennai has since added Sunday shifts to keep up.
By 2026, Apple wants to produce over 60 million iPhones a year in India for the American market, more than double its current output from the country. But that plan may now be running into geopolitical sabotage. A report by The Information reveals that Chinese authorities have begun actively delaying or blocking the export of key manufacturing equipment Apple needs to scale production in India.
In one instance cited by the report, a Chinese supplier central to Apple’s iPhone 17 trial production was barred from sending vital machinery to India earlier this year. To work around the blockage, the supplier quietly rerouted the equipment through a front company in Southeast Asia before it eventually reached Foxconn’s plant in India.
Multiple sources involved in Apple’s supply chain say delays in securing export permits for assembly equipment have surged, with approvals that used to take weeks now dragging on for months. In many cases, Chinese officials are reportedly denying export requests altogether, offering no reason. Foxconn, Apple’s lead manufacturing partner, is now said to be waiting up to four months for essential tools to be cleared from China — a timeline that threatens Apple’s ability to meet its 2026 target.
The friction underscores a deeper strategic anxiety in Beijing. Apple’s shift to India doesn’t just mean lost contracts for Chinese firms, it signals a symbolic erosion of China’s central role in global technology manufacturing. It also offers India an opening to become the next big supply chain hub, something the Modi administration has aggressively courted through incentive schemes and tax breaks.
However, while the path offers an alternative to China, it comes with challenges. India still lacks much of the infrastructure, labor flexibility, and high-precision industrial capability that makes China the world’s factory. Analysts say Apple’s operations in India will take years — possibly a decade — to match the scale, efficiency, and quality control currently achieved in Chinese plants.
But Apple is betting on long-term gains. Its three plants in India are expanding, and the company continues to deepen ties with local partners. Still, experts warn that scaling up in India won’t eliminate China from the picture entirely — especially if Beijing continues to control access to the specialized equipment and processes critical to high-end electronics assembly.
Even as Apple eyes India, the White House is pressuring the company to go one step further and bring production home. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently pointed to Apple’s $500 billion investment announcement, claiming it signaled the potential for a US-made iPhone. But industry experts aren’t convinced.
Wedbush Securities, a prominent US financial firm, said that an iPhone assembled in America would cost more than triple what it does now.
“If consumers want a $3,500 iPhone we should make them in New Jersey or Texas,” said analyst Dan Ives.
That reality leaves Apple trapped in a geopolitical tug-of-war. The company’s attempt to sidestep tariffs by pivoting to India may provoke deeper retaliation from China, especially if more suppliers follow suit. Beijing’s recent moves to slow or block exports to India could mark the start of a broader effort to prevent key companies like Apple from decoupling too quickly.