Apple likely to make more iPhones in India this year

New Delhi: Apple is expected to make 11- 12 million iPhones in India through its three contract manufacturers in 2022, up from 7.5 million in 2021, underlining the growing importance of the South Asian nation to the US firm’s plans. This would mean Apple’s India plants will contribute 5-7% of global shipments and meet 85% of local demand, which is expected to touch record highs in 2022, said market trackers.

This compares with a little over 3% contribution to global shipments in 2021 and less than 1.5% in 2020. At the same time, mainland China’s contribution is expected to drop to 91.2-93.5% of global shipments in 2022, from 95.8% in 2021 and 98.2% in 2020, said Counterpoint Research.

The development comes as Apple and other US tech giants expand their manufacturing footprint outside China amid heightened geopolitical tensions and pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions.

“In India, over 7.5 million iPhones were made last year; we expect a sharp rise in local production of iPhones,” said Saynam Chaurasia, analyst at Canalys. “The company is also gearing up to produce the iPhone 14 locally, beginning production much sooner compared to the older generation iPhones launch dates.”