US President Donald Trump says he has instructed Apple CEO Tim Cook to cease the company’s ongoing efforts to expand iPhone manufacturing in India.
Speaking to reporters during his state visit to Qatar, the President stated, “I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. He is building all over India.”
According to the President, India had offered Apple a deal with “literally no tariffs.”
However, he conveyed to Cook his opposition to this expansion, saying, “Tim, we are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves’.”
The President further claimed that as a result of their discussion, Apple would be “upping their production in the United States.”
This development casts uncertainty over Apple’s ambitious plans to shift a substantial portion of its iPhone production to India.
In the fiscal year ending March 2025, Apple’s iPhone production in India reached $22 billion, marking a nearly 60% increase from the previous year.
The company’s strategy aimed to import the majority of iPhones destined for the US market from India by the end of next year.
Apple and its manufacturing partners have been actively diversifying their production away from China. This trend gained momentum following COVID-related disruptions and has been further accelerated by ongoing tensions between the US and China, particularly in the context of the President’s previous tariff actions.
Currently, the majority of iPhones manufactured in India are assembled at Foxconn’s facilities in the southern part of the country.
Tata Group’s electronics manufacturing arm also plays a significant role, having acquired Wistron’s local business and managing Pegatron’s operations in India.
During Apple’s recent earnings call, Cook addressed the company’s supply chain strategy, stating, “What we learned some time ago, having everything in one location had too much risk with it. We have, over time, with certain parts of the supply chain, opened up new sources of supply. You could see that kind of thing continuing in the future.”
In the same call, Cook also highlighted plans for $500 billion in spending in the US over the next four years and the expansion of facilities across several states, including a new advanced server manufacturing plant in Texas slated to open later this year.
It remains to be seen how Apple will respond to the President’s directive and what implications this will have for the company’s supply chain diversification efforts and its future manufacturing footprint in both India and the United States.
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