By Pihu Yadav
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, on Wednesday, said that the tech giant is likely to move about 20-25% of its iPhone production to India by 2024.
According to a recent report, Apple has already shifted $7 billion worth of iPhone manufacturing to India. Apple intends to reach $40 billion in the following five years, according to the same article. Just a few weeks after production started in China this year, Apple began assembling the new iPhone in India for the first time.
Kuo indicates that Apple is poised to initiate the new product introduction (NPI) for the standard iPhone 17, scheduled to be launched in the second half of 2025, from India. This signifies Apple’s first-ever development of a new iPhone model outside of China.
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“The standard iPhone is chosen for its lower-difficulty design development to reduce design risk,” Kuo added.
In 2023, India accounts for 12-14% of the total global iPhone shipments, out of which Foxconn, a long-time iPhone assembler, holds about 80% of the market share.
The shift towards increasing iPhone production in India is expected to have a profound impact on Apple’s manufacturing landscape in China. Kuo predicts a substantial reduction in production scale at Foxconn’s facilities in Zhengzhou and Taiyuan in China, by 35-45% and 75-85%, respectively, by 2024.
This reduction can be attributed to the expansion of production in India and the remarkable growth in iPhone order allocation for Luxshare, coupled with advancements in production line automation.
Kuo also highlights Apple’s strategic decision to enlist Tata as an iPhone assembler. With the acquisition of Wistron’s iPhone production lines in India, Apple is aiming to strengthen its relationship with the Indian government.
“This move will benefit future sales of iPhones and other products in India and is critical to Apple’s growth over the next decade,” Kuo said.