India Now Produces One in Four iPhones Globally
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Apple has been making moves to drastically reduce its iPhone manufacturing reliance on China since at least 2017, when it began assembling the iPhone SE in India. Since then, the number of iPhones assembled in the Asian country has slowly increased, to the point that it now accounts for one in four iPhones sold globally.
According to Bloomberg, Apple assembled somewhere between 220 million and 230 million iPhones in 2025, with approximately 55 million of those being made in India. That means India accounted for 25% of all iPhones sold during 2025.
The 2025 Indian numbers were an impressive increase from the 36 million iPhones made in the country during the previous year. It was reported in April 2024 that India was already producing one in five of all iPhone sold worldwide.
How It Began
We first began hearing rumors of Apple’s plans to start assembling iPhone in India in late 2016, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was in talks with Indian officials. Two months later, India’s IT Minister, Priyank Kharge, formally announced that the Cupertino company was preparing to “commence initial manufacturing operations” in a facility in Bengaluru.
Apple eased into the Indian manufacturing market by limiting early manufacturing runs to older models of iPhones that would be sold exclusively in India. This benefited Apple not only by allowing it to ramp up manufacturing more slowly in the country, but also allowed it to meet India’s regulations that required smartphones sold in the country to be made in the country.
While local laws meant it was more cost effective for Apple to manufacture iPhones within the country, it still didn’t make economic sense for Apple to create a large number of assembly plants to assemble the latest iPhone models also.
In 2023, an Indian trade minister announced that Apple’s ultimate aim was to increase local iPhone manufacturing from the then approximately 6% of all iPhones, to a 25% share of manufacturing by 2025. Now according to the Bloomberg report, Apple has accomplished that feat.
Other Factors Behind Apple’s Rapid Indian Expansion
The global COVID-19 pandemic spurred Apple to accelerate its plans to move manufacturing out of mainland China as a result of strict lockdown procedures. These had led to lengthy delays on production of the iPhone 14 that were serious enough for Apple to issue a rare statement about the issues it was facing.
“COVID-19 restrictions have temporarily impacted the primary iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max assembly facility located in Zhengzhou, China,” Apple posted in a rare Sunday press release in November 2022. “The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity.”
Earlier that year, Apple had already reportedly begun seeing India as a potential assembly source for all iPhones sold globally, examining whether it could possibly move all of the Chinese iPhone production to Indian facilities.
At the time, trade tensions were already high between the US and China, but they escalated further after President Donald Trump took office in 2025 and inflicted expensive “reciprocal” tariffs on goods brought in from China. At the time, nearly all of Apple’s devices and other products were manufactured in China. As the full impact of Trump’s tariffs hit, Apple began spending millions to shift its global manufacturing and distribution network to more affordable venues.
Apple has also been forced to deal with ongoing power shortages across China, which has affected manufacturing in the country since 2021.
In January 2024, it was reported that Apple suppliers had already spent $16 billion to move their operations out of China. You can bet that billions have also been spent on the effort since that number was reported.
While India appears to be the main beneficiary of Apple’s decision to move its manufacturing out of China, thanks to the iPhone, other countries are also benefiting from the decision. For example, the M5 Apple Vision Pro headset is being assembled in Vietnam.
