Apple reportedly doubled down on iPhone production in India, eager to diversify its production base away from China.
Bloomberg cited sources saying that Apple suppliers assembled iPhones worth US$14 billion in India in fiscal 2024 (April 2023 to March 2024), accounting for 14%, or one in seven iPhones, globally. Foxconn accounted for 67% of the iPhones produced in India. Pegatron and Wistron made 17% and 16% of the made-in-India iPhones, respectively. iPhone models made in India include iPhone 12, 13, 14, and 15, but the Pro and Pro Max series are excluded.
Bloomberg Intelligence released a note affirming that Apple's move to diversify iPhone assembly is beneficial. However, true unbundling will occur when component manufacturing and other product aspects are similarly diversified.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Gupta, an analyst at Bloomberg Economics, emphasized in a report that this development underscores India's rising status as a preferred manufacturing hub for multinational corporations. He stated that India's expansion of manufacturing capabilities and its integration into global supply chains are poised to fuel economic growth in the coming years, positioning India as a key driver of global economic expansion.
Thanks to India's incentive policies, including the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes and Phased Manufacturing Programme, India has transformed from a mobile phone importer to an exporter. The India Cellular and Electronics Association data shows that mobile phone manufacturing value in India surged 21-fold, and mobile phone exports rose by 7,500% over the past decade. The first investment wave in the mobile phone manufacturing industry was attributed to Samsung Electronics and China-based suppliers, while the second wave in investments after 2019 came from Apple suppliers.
In early April, the Economic Times reported that Apple and its suppliers generated 150,000 direct jobs and 300,000 indirect jobs, and it became India's largest blue-collar job generator.
