Apple has defied US President Donald Trump's orders and is proceeding with manufacturing the iPhone 17 series lineup in India. Tim Cook, the CEO of Cupertino giant Apple, is planning to diversify the manufacturing of Apple devices, specifically the iPhones. This, in turn, will help Apple reduce dependence on China for manufacturing smartphones.
iPhone 17 Series Launch
Ahead of Apple's event in September, where the new iPhone 17 series will be launched, factories in India have already started manufacturing the iPhone 17 series. The iPhone 17 series includes the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Interestingly, the Pro variants of the series were traditionally always manufactured in China; however, from this year, Apple will be making an exception.
iPhones Manufactured in India
According to Bloomberg, this is the first time in history that Apple will be including India in it's Production supply chain. The Aggressive nature of the plan depicts how eager Apple is to shift it's manufacturing bases from China for any devices shipping, especially to the USA. We at The Byline think of this to be the beginning of many devices such as Apple watches, iPad's and others being manufactured in India.
Tata's Aiding Production
However important thing for India in this is Tata coming forward to help set up factories for Foxconn in Chennai and Bengaluru. According to a report, the two factories owned by the Conglomerate Tata are all set to contribute a major chunk of Apple's device production output. Tata has also taken majority stakes in two plants, one of Wistron and the other being Pegatron, to assemble smartphones
Tariffs' Threat
US President levying tariffs on India and devices manufactured outside the US were expected to be a major buffer in Apple's plan of shifting bases from China to India. However, considering the present situation and the company's strategy, it will not be bogged down by these challenges and the uncertain business environment, and will most probably move forward with its strategy. Although iPhones are still safeguarded from the heavy tariffs but no one can predict for how long it will stay like that. Therefore, Apple has decided to diversify.
China's Blockades
China, being the loser in this situation, has not taken this lightly and has already started blocking critical minerals being exported to India. The critical minerals used in battery manufacturing will create supply chain problems and will need to be solved quickly. Moreover, since many components used in the iPhone are still imported to India from China, South Korea, like displays, chipsets, the overall cost of manufacturing iPhones is still a little bit on the higher side.