Apple defies Trump with India production plans – media
Apple Inc. is defying US President Donald Trump’s request to reduce manufacturing in India and is planning to invest about $2.5 billion to boost iPhone production in the South Asian country, the Times of India (TOI) reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper cited Indian government sources as saying that the company would make 60 million iPhones per year in the country, up from the current 40 million.
In May, Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he didn’t want the tech giant to manufacture in India. “I said to him [Cook], ‘my friend, I treated you very good. You’re coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India,’” the US President told reporters in May.
During the company’s quarterly earnings call in May, Cook said the majority of iPhones sold in the US “will have India as their country of origin.”
An Indian government source told TOI this week that such “expansion plans will continue as previously envisaged.”
Imports from India to the US will get more expensive as of Wednesday, when Trump’s 50% tariffs come into place. However, smartphones, computers, and other electronics are exempted from these tariffs.
Apple exported $17 billion-worth of iPhones from India last year and also secured a significant double-digit market share in the country’s domestic premium smartphone sector.
With more than 60 million iPhones expected to be sold annually in the US by the end of 2026, Apple would need to double production in India, according to analysts.
