According to a report, IDC India’s Associate Vice President, Navkendar Singh, stated that the 25% tariff on Indian exports will undoubtedly impact Apple’s plan to make India a major iPhone export center for the US. Approximately 25% of Apple’s iPhone shipments to the US originate from India, amounting to roughly $600 million annually. However, the new tariff poses a substantial setback for Apple’s export operations.

Apple has been expanding iPhone production in India, primarily through Foxconn, as part of its broader China-plus-one strategy. Half of the iPhones shipped to the US in recent months were manufactured in India. Apple holds a 55% market share in India’s premium smartphone segment.

Apple may choose to absorb the tariff costs or pass the increased prices onto consumers. Apple is already grappling with rising component costs, particularly the expensive new 3nm chips from TSMC. Therefore, they will need to cut costs elsewhere or raise prices, similar to Samsung’s approach with its foldables.

Preliminary data reviewed indicates that Apple exported over $5 billion worth of iPhones from India during the April-June quarter (Q1 FY26), representing approximately 70% of the country’s total smartphone exports. This marks a substantial increase from the approximately $3 billion in exports during the same period last year.

This surge in demand for Indian-made smartphones has resulted in an impressive 240% year-over-year growth in deliveries to the US market. Consequently, phones manufactured in India now constitute 44% of all smartphones imported into the US, a significant increase from just 13% a year prior.

Apple’s strategic shift in manufacturing from China to India is a key driver of this change. According to Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia, Apple manufactured the highest number of smartphones in India for the US market in the second quarter of 2025. This marks the first time India has become the largest manufacturing hub for Apple for the US market. Apple has already commenced manufacturing the iPhone 16 series Pro models in India. While some high-level models continue to be produced in China, India’s role is steadily expanding.

Samsung and Motorola are also contributing to this trend, although their production scales are currently smaller compared to Apple. Motorola still relies heavily on production in China, while Samsung depends on Vietnam. Apple plans to further expand its production capacity in India. Reports suggest that the company aims to export 80 million iPhones from India to the US by 2026, necessitating a rapid acceleration of manufacturing capabilities. India is emerging as a global leader not only in IT but also in smartphone manufacturing, and the involvement of tech giants like Apple promises further growth in this sector.