Half of the world’s iPhones could be made in India by 2027: Report

Apple has been steadily diversifying its production facilities outside China in a bid to mitigate the effect from the country’s zero-Covid policies and the existing geo-political situations. In this series, a report by JP Morgan analysts back in September last year had suggested that Apple could be producing roughly 25 percent of the world’s iPhones in India by 2025. But now, a new report says that the number could be much higher.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, Apple could be assembling nearly 50 percent of the world’s iPhones in India by 2027. Apple, as per the report, Apple has decreased iPhone component orders from its suppliers in China, which in turn, has negatively impacted their earnings estimates.

The has been manufacturing its iPhones in India since 2017 starting with the iPhone SE by Wistron. More recently, it started manufacturing its latest iPhone 14 series in India. The development came shortly after the company released its devices worldwide and nearly six weeks after the production began in China providing a major boost to India’s push for increasing local electronic manufacturing.

This time period — the time difference between Apple starting the manufacturing process of an iPhone model in China and in India — is expected to reduce further with the company starting the assembling process for iPhone 15 in India at the same time it does in China.

“The iPhone 14’s mass production schedule in India is still about six weeks behind China, but the gap has improved significantly…Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that India and China will be able to produce the iPhone 15 at the same time next year,” Apple analyst Kuo Ming-chi had said last year.

My latest survey indicates Foxconn’s iPhone production site in India will ship the new 6.1″ iPhone 14 almost simultaneously with China for the first time in 2H22 (India being one quarter or more behind in the past).

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) August 5, 2022

Furthermore, the report says that while India is likely to become an iPhone manufacturing hub, Vietnam is likely to be the hub for making Apple’s MacBooks and AirPods. Apple’s Chinese suppliers have already setting up manufacturing plants in Vietnam, diluting China’s share even further.