Half of iPhone production could be moved from China to India by 2027

Apple has been making iPhones in India for a few years now, but very few phones actually come off the production lines there. Currently, only 5% of iPhones are assembled in India, but that percentage could rise in the next few years. Current estimates and rumours suggest that Apple wants to move away from its dependence on China and move half of its production to India.

Apple to move half of iPhone production out of China

According to the South China Morning Post, Apple’s plan is to move up to 25% of iPhone production to India in the next 2 years. Between 2025 and 2027, the percentage could rise to 50%. The beginning of this transition is starting to be felt by Apple’s component suppliers in China, whose stock market values have started to fall due to low orders. However, there is little chance that Apple will completely drop these suppliers, even if production moves to another country entirely. The raw material for many of the components in iPhones is predominantly found in China.

At the moment, the factory in India is not fully equipped to take over more of the premium iPhone production. However, Apple appears to have already started producing the iPhone 14 as early as this fall. Even iPhone 14 Pros produced in this factory have been spotted on store shelves.

Rumors say, however, that Apple is pushing to upgrade the factory to start production of the iPhone 15 simultaneously in 2023 in both India and China. The Pro models, will most likely remain predominantly on the production lines in China.

India isn’t the only country being targeted by Apple. Vietnam is also home to Apple factories, where AirPods headphones and the latest MacBook laptop models are predominantly produced.

Given India’s slow manufacturing progress so far, perhaps the target of moving 50% of iPhone production in just four years is optimistic.