Apple’s iPhone Shift to India as iPhone 17 Trial Production Begins

Apple is moving full speed ahead with its plans to transfer iPhone manufacturing from China to India, but fresh hurdles from Beijing could slow its progress. Over the past 12 months ending March 2025, Apple assembled $22 billion worth of iPhones in India, representing a 60% jump year-over-year. Contract manufacturers like Foxconn are rapidly expanding facilities, with the Bengaluru plant expected to be operational within weeks. As part of a sweeping supply chain shift, Apple aims to produce all iPhones intended for the U.S. market—over 60 million units annually—within India by the end of 2026.

However, Chinese authorities appear to be complicating the transition. Sources indicate that key manufacturing equipment shipments destined for India are facing significant delays at Chinese ports, impacting Apple’s efforts to scale production. These blockages, which reportedly began in 2024, involve specialized machinery crucial for the precision assembly of iPhones. Although Apple and its partners, including Foxconn and Tata Electronics, have already begun trial production of the iPhone 17 series in India, the speed at which they can expand remains in question without uninterrupted access to advanced equipment.

Meanwhile, Apple has been coordinating closely with Indian authorities to support the scale-up. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is currently engaged with India’s external affairs ministry to address shipping delays with Chinese counterparts. Despite these challenges, optimism remains high. Analysts project that India’s share of global iPhone production could rise from 18–20% in 2024 to as much as 30% by 2025. To meet that goal, Apple would need to more than double its Indian output to 80–90 million units annually within a few years, according to IDC analyst Upasna Joshi.

Apple’s strategy to test Indian production for the U.S. market has already shown promising results. The company recently shipped 1.5 million iPhones from India to the U.S. via chartered flights, both to sidestep tariff costs and to evaluate whether Indian plants could respond to sudden spikes in demand. Encouraged by this trial, Apple now envisions supplying all U.S. iPhone demand from India by 2026, though final decisions will hinge on how U.S.-China trade talks evolve. President Trump’s administration continues to press for American companies to distance themselves from Chinese supply chains, further influencing Apple’s strategic choices.

Despite the positive momentum, Apple’s dependence on China for critical components and machinery remains a significant vulnerability. Industry experts caution that unless Apple’s Indian manufacturing network can gain greater autonomy from Chinese suppliers, scaling to meet U.S. demand will be difficult. In the interim, companies like Tata Electronics and Foxconn are stepping up trial runs and increasing local production of components such as casings, but smooth cooperation across borders will be essential. With $17.5 billion of India-assembled iPhones already exported in the past year, India’s growing role in Apple’s future is clear—but the path forward may yet be a bumpy one.