NEW DELHI, May 15: iPhone maker Apple’s investment plans for India are intact and the company proposes to have a major manufacturing base for its products in the country, government sources said.
Soon after US President Donald Trump made a statement that he has asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to cut India manufacturing, Indian officials spoke to executives of the Cupertino-based firm.
Apple executives assured the Indian government officials that the company’s investment plans are intact and the country would be a major manufacturing base of Apple.
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“Apple has said that its investment plans in India are intact and it proposes to continue to have India as a major manufacturing base for its products,” the source said.
E-mail query sent to Apple in this regard elicited no immediate response.
Earlier in the day, Trump said he spoke to Cook and told him that he doesn’t want Apple to make its products in India and instead increase production in the US.
“We have Apple, as you know, it’s coming in. And I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, Tim, you’re my friend. I treated you very well. You’re coming in with USD 500 billion. But now I hear you’re building all over India. I don’t want you building in India. You can build in India if you want to take care of India,” Trump said.
He said that India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world and it is very hard to sell into India.
“They’ve (India) offered us a deal where basically they’re willing to literally charge us no tariff. So we go from the highest tariff. You couldn’t do business in India… But I said to Tim…we treated you really good. We put up with all the plants that you built in China for years. Now you got to build us. We’re not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves. They’re doing very well. We want you to build here. And they’re going to be upping their production in the United States, Apple,” Trump said.
Cook has announced that Apple will source the majority of iPhones sold in the US from India in the June quarter while China will produce the vast majority of the devices for other markets amid uncertainty over tax tariffs.
According to government sources, 15 per cent of iPhone’s global output comes from India. Foxconn, Tata Electronics and Pegatron India (majorly owned by Tata Electronics) are engaged in manufacturing iPhones.
Foxconn has also started manufacturing Apple Airpods in Telangana for exports.
According to an analysis by S&P Global, iPhone sales in the US were 75.9 million units in 2024, with exports in March from India at 3.1 million units, suggesting a need to double shipments either through new capacity or redirecting shipments bound for the domestic market.
“Apple’s Indian exports already headed predominantly to the United States, which represented 81.9 per cent of phones exported by the firm in the three months to February 28, 2025. That increased to 97.6 per cent in March 2025 as a result of a 219 per cent jump in exports, likely reflecting the firm looking to preempt higher tariffs,” S&P Global Market Intelligence report said.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had in April announced that iPhones worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore were exported from India in fiscal year 2025.
The Apple ecosystem in India is one the biggest job creators in the country. It is estimated to have employed around 2 lakh people across various vendors in the country. (PTI)
