According to J.P. Morgan analysts, Apple Inc. may produce one out of every four iPhones in India by 2025 as it shifts some production away from China due to rising geopolitical tensions and stringent COVID-19 lockdowns in that nation.
India, the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China, is predicted by the brokerage to receive around 5% of Apple’s iPhone 14 manufacturing starting in late 2022.
In addition, it predicts that by 2025, 25% of all Apple products—including Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods—will be produced outside of China, up from 5% at the moment.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has placed a significant wager on India since it started assembling iPhones there in 2017 with Wistron and later with Foxconn, in keeping with the Indian government’s goal for domestic manufacturing.
Business supply chain relocation plans were impeded by the pandemic, but now that limitations have been relaxed, more firms, including Apple, are stepping up their efforts this year.
“Taiwanese vendors such as Hon Hai and Pegatron play a key role in the relocation to India. In the medium to long term, we also expect Apple to qualify local India manufacturing suppliers,” according to J.P.Morgan analysts led by Gokul Hariharan.
In line with Apple’s intentions to reduce its manufacturing gap with China, a Bloomberg story from earlier this month said that the Indian giant Tata Group was in discussions with Wistron to form a joint venture to produce iPhones in the country.
