According to the Financial Times, which cites sources “familiar with the matter,” Apple plans to assemble in India all iPhones intended for the US by the end of 2026. The majority of Apple’s iPhones are currently made in China, but Chinese-made products have become a toxic asset for US import.The US government has imposed a 145 percent tariff on goods from China. While smartphones are included in a 90-day reprieve, announced in early April, President Trump has indicated this exclusion is indeed a temporary one.

Apple’s supposed shifting of its manufacturing to India is an insurance policy against such chaos in the future, but it did not begin here. In December 2024, we wrote about Apple’s growing reliance on India for manufacturing as a bulwark against growing US-China tensions.

Indian production of iPhones commenced in 2017, starting with the lower-cost iPhone SE. The country began producing flagship-model launch iPhones in 2023.

Despite being the better part of a decade into Indian iPhone manufacturing, this latest alleged shift in strategy still represents a very costly turbocharging of its efforts—and likely at least a doubling of output from Apple’s Indian production plants.