India Should Aim For 35% Of iPhone Manufacturing Share By 2027: Experts

Apple has turned India into a cornerstone of its global supply chain as it has expanded its iPhone manufacturing capabilities in the region. Apple produced approximately 25 per cent of its global output in the country in 2025, reported Bloomberg. “In an ideal scenario, India should aim for at least 35 percent contribution (one in three) of global iPhone production by the end of next year 2027. This is possible if we build enough capacity and support the component ecosystem,” said Neil Shah, cofounder, Counterpoint Research.

India continues to be the key destination now for Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing diversification strategy. “The US tariffs accelerated the manufacturing of iPhones from India especially to USA vs China last year and the momentum continues as Apple looks to build an ecosystem around the manufacturing partners,” he added.

Apple began assembling some of its devices in India and Vietnam a few years ago, slowly cutting its reliance on China.

In a report by JP Morgan in 2022, analysts said Apple will expand its manufacturing capacity in India to produce 25 per cent of all iPhones by 2025. Vietnam, on the other hand, will contribute 20 per cent of all iPad and Apple Watch.

Last year, India accounted for 55 million iPhones of the roughly 220 million to 230 million produced worldwide. Apple began making the entire iPhone 17 lineup in India ahead of last September’s launch. China still produces most iPhones. However, tariffs on shipments from China in 2025 pushed Apple and its suppliers to seek other locations. India became a key alternative.

China still has the lead with a robust support supply chain for components, equipment to manufacture the majority of the Apple products. “India has progressed well to expand the manufacturing scale to serve the world with the support ecosystem growing. The PLI support should continue from production to exports as well, to keep India cost competitive until it reaches a good threshold,” Shah explained.

Driven by the continuously strong traction for the iPhone 17 series, Apple stood out as the only major brand in China to achieve YoY growth. Its market share reached the highest level in January 2026, in the past five years in China, led by price cuts for the iPhone 17 series, which has been relatively modest so far, leaving room for further price adjustments or margin optimization ahead of the next-generation launch to support lifecycle sales, said Counterpoibnt in its report.

The current statistics indicate that one in every four iPhones worldwide now comes from India. India is now Apple’s second-largest iPhone manufacturing base after China. If incentives continue, analysts expect India’s share to climb beyond 30 per cent in the coming years.

Even though the gap has narrowed, electronics assembly and component manufacturing still costs more in India than in countries including China and Vietnam. However, the Indian government is actively trying to bridge this gap through initiatives like the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), which recently approved over INR 41,000 crore in investments to boost local production. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme in March 2025 with an outlay of INR 22,919 crore as part of the government’s broader push to make India self-reliant in electronics manufacturing and reach $500 billion in electronics production by 2030-31.

India’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme offered subsidies and tax breaks to global manufacturers and Apple’s contract partners Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron were quick to expand operations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka under this scheme, one of the key contributors of the growth.