Apple Manufacturer Invests $1.5 Billion Outside of China — But Not in the US
Credit: Tech Vision
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It’s no secret that Apple is keen to move away from China as its primary iPhone manufacturing and assembly hub. This week, there’s some news that’s sure to upset the Trump administration and, specifically, the president himself.
According to a filing with the London Stock Exchange, major Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn is investing $1.5 billion in its unit in Tamil Nadu, India. More accurately, Foxconn’s Singapore-based subsidiary will acquire 12.77 billion shares of Yuzhan Technology India, one of Foxconn’s business units that manufacturers components and assembles iPhones in India.
This news comes mere days after Foxconn announced a $433 million joint venture with HCL Group ( a multinational technology consulting group headquartered in India). The deal went public after receiving approval from the Indian government to build a semiconductor plant in Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The plant is expected to be operational by 2027.
As of now, estimates state that China still manufactures about 80% of iPhones with India accounting for the remaining 20%. Clearly, Apple intends for these numbers to change after very deliberate and public modifications to its supply chain. Despite Trump’s reprimand, India and China possess two key elements of iPhone production: established infrastructure and a skilled labor force. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed Apple CEO Tim Cook told him Apple is simply waiting for robots before moving iPhone production to the US. As we reported, others in the fray doubt this conversation ever took place.
Trump’s tariffs have turned iPhone manufacturing into a global game of chess. Currently, imports from China are hit with 30% additional tariffs, while India is at 10%. Tariffs aside, Apple’s footprint in China makes it difficult enough to move production elsewhere with any reasonable speed.
To complicate the matter, China isn’t sitting idly by while businesses leave the country. Beijing is delaying export clearances on essential equipment and components, imposing travel restrictions on key engineers and technicians, and pressuring other important Chinese-based suppliers to limit cooperation with Apple’s Indian operations. Once again, there’s certainly more to this story on the way. We’ll keep you posted.
