Apple vendors cross 20% domestic value addition threshold in India

Samsung, Padget Electronics also cross similar threshold

Apple India’s iPhone contract manufacturers, such as Tata Electronics, Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing, Pegatron Technology India, and Foxconn Hon Hai India, have crossed the 20 per cent domestic value addition (DVA) threshold across variants, according to official government documents seen by Business Standard.

 

This assumes significance as the Cupertino-headquartered major exported iPhones worth ₹1.5 trillion (free on board value) from India in FY25, recording a 76 per cent rise from the previous year. Apple CEO Tim Cook had at a recent earnings call said that a majority of the iPhones sold in the United States in the June quarter would be made in India, prompting US President Donald Trump to take a stand that only locally made Apple devices can be sold in America .

 

In China, where a majority of Apple product assembly takes place currently, especially iPhones, the domestic value addition is estimated by analysts at 30 to 35 per cent. For Vietnam, another important assembly hub for Apple for products such as iPad, AirPod and watches, the value addition is supposed to be in the range of 20 to 25 per cent. Official value-add figures are not available for these countries. Samsung India and Padget Electronics (a wholly owned subsidiary of Dixon) have also crossed the 20 per cent DVA mark for mobile phones manufactured in the country, the documents showed. 

 

“Crossing the 20 per cent threshold is a significant milestone for all these companies. The local component manufacturing and domestic value addition by and for most of these companies was in the lower single digits until five years ago. The aim now is to cross 35-40 per cent over the next decade,” a senior government official said.

 

While Tata Electronics, Wistron, Pegatron, and Foxconn largely handle iPhone assembly at their Indian facilities, they also perform component testing at these locations. The government allows mobile phone contract manufacturers to classify domestic assembly and testing of imported battery packs, chargers, adapters, among other components, to be counted under the DVA umbrella. 

 

As a result, all these companies have now been categorised as Class II local suppliers under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade’s (DPIIT) Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order of 2017. The DPIIT’s PPP-MII Order is an enabling provision aimed at promoting DVA in public procurement.

 

Apple, Tata Electronics, Foxconn, and Pegatron did not respond to queries seeking details of the DVA targets they expect to achieve over the next year. 

 

Tata Group’s Tata Electronics, which manages the India operations of Wistron and Pegatron as well, assembles iPhones at facilities near Hosur and Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu, and at one unit in Narasapura, Karnataka. Wistron and Pegatron have iPhone assembly facilities in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, respectively.

 

Foxconn, on the other hand, operates iPhone assembly units in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana. Its Devanahalli unit in Karnataka, which is under construction and set to be the second-largest facility globally, will complement its Hyderabad plant, where the company will assemble AirPods for Apple.

 

In May, the Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturing giant invested an additional $1.5 billion (about ₹12,800 crore) in its Indian unit, Yuzhan Technology. This company is on track to set up a display module assembly unit in Tamil Nadu.

 

Samsung India manufactures mobile phones at its plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Padget, a contract manufacturer for Xiaomi phones, also operates a Noida plant with the capacity to manufacture over 25 million smartphone handsets.

 

In the information technology (IT) hardware segment, Bhagwati Products (part of the Micromax Group) has achieved 20 per cent DVA for tablets. Meanwhile, Dell International and Netweb Technologies have crossed this threshold for laptop and server manufacturing, respectively, according to the documents. 

 

Some Apple iPhone components, such as metal casings, enclosures, smartphone covers, and parts of the glass touchscreen, are made in India. Corning conducts cover glass finishing for Apple at its unit in Sriperumbudur. Some of Apple’s domestic suppliers also manufacture other products from the Apple ecosystem, such as charging cables, AirPods, and MacBook enclosures. In total, Apple has more than 20 component suppliers in India as of 2025.

 

The majority of other components used to make Apple’s products, including the iPhone, are produced in factories located in China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan.

 

In Vietnam and Thailand, for example, Apple’s contract manufacturers, including Foxconn, Luxshare, Samsung, Intel, and LG, have major operations assembling products such as MacBooks, AirPods, and Apple Watches. As of 2024, Vietnam is estimated to have as many as 35 electronics contract manufacturing companies working with Apple, while Thailand is estimated to have begun assembly of MacBooks and AirPods.