Apple Inc. has taken a big step toward realizing its smart manufacturing strategy. That’s a huge leap from the 5% of iPhones that the company was recently making in India. The firm, long dependent on China, is turning its attention elsewhere. It is designed to be more flexible and responsive to shifting global economic tides. According to analyst firm Counterpoint, Apple reached an all-time high 14 million iPhone shipments in India last year. This strong number is a 9% jump over last year.
The production of iPhones in India is part of Apple’s long-term strategy to diversify its manufacturing footprint across multiple countries. Last year, the company produced a range of 220 million to 230 million iPhones sold globally. India had a big part in this, having provided 55 million of those units. More than anything, this growth illustrates India’s rise as a key consumer market for Apple. Beyond this, it firmly positions India as a major global supply chain player.
Indeed, Bloomberg and JPMorgan predicted that they would see a pivot to higher iPhone production in India as far back as 2022. Only last year, we called this forecast into fruition. As IMS predicted, JPMorgan’s earlier forecast of a 25% production milestone for Apple in the country was optimistic. This outcome is consistent with Apple’s broader strategy. It builds on this bipartisan recognition of risks associated with over-reliance on Chinese manufacturing, especially considering the risks associated with ongoing unpredictability of U.S. tariff policy.
Then in 2025, the trend toward India picked up speed all of a sudden. This proposal was largely driven by mounting concerns over the impact of U.S.-China trade tensions. In fact, on a visit to Doha this past May for the U.S.-Qatar Business Summit, then-President Donald Trump himself personally warned Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. He urged Cook to hold off on any more growth in China. This amber glow was part of what made Apple decide to sharpen its focus on expanding its Indian operations.
The scale of India’s emerging importance to Apple as a consumer market is hard to overstate. The country is quickly adapting to technology and smartphone usage is skyrocketing. This transition presents a tremendous opportunity for Apple to expand its customer base. We delivered 14 million units last year, underscoring this potential. This spike is representative of not only our ramp up in order volumes, but the increasing demand from consumers.