Apple's shift from China: India's iPhone exports zoomed 116% in April

With the shift of iPhone assembly for the US market from China to India, Apple Inc saw a massive increase in its exports from India in April, which clocked over ₹17,219 crore, according to reports filed by the company’s three vendors with the government. This represents a staggering 116 per cent jump in iPhone exports compared to the same month last year, when it hit ₹7,971 crore.

 

The numbers are consistent with the announcement during its second-quarter earnings call hosted by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, wherein Apple said that starting this quarter, a majority of the iPhones for the US market would be airlifted from India. Multiple plane loads of iPhones were flown from Chennai to Chicago in April.

 

An email to Apple Inc did not elicit a response until the time of going to press.

 

Usually, the April–June quarter is the smallest for Apple’s iPhone sales, both in India and globally. 

 

However, since US exports are now being met from India, Apple has increased both production and exports substantially compared to a typical April.

 

In April 2023, which marked Apple’s third year of production in India, its vendors produced ₹8,772 crore worth of iPhones, of which nearly 57 per cent — or iPhones worth ₹4,987 crore — were exported. Production in April 2024 climbed by 24 per cent, reaching ₹10,894 crore, and exports constituted 73 per cent, at ₹7,971 crore.

 

Consequently, in April 2025, the overall production value (exports and domestic) nearly doubled to ₹21,400 crore, of which 81 per cent — around ₹17,300 crore — was exported from India, most of it to the US. 

 

In preparation for global tariffs, Apple has been steadily increasing exports since December 2024, peaking in March as reciprocal tariffs came into play.

 

If Apple were to meet its entire US demand for iPhones from India this year, production would need to double within the next 18 months, from the current ₹1.89 trillion ($22 billion) to ₹3.5 trillion ($40 billion). Of this, nearly ₹3.1 trillion ($35 billion) would be exported, with the rest produced for the domestic market. The overall demand for iPhones in the US averages around $40 billion annually.

 

This would be one of the most ambitious climbs by any manufacturing company in India on the export front. In turn, it would require deep reforms in taxation, tariffs, and industrial infrastructure — areas which, according to a NITI Aayog report on global value chains, remain lacking in India’s case.

 

The shift of iPhone exports to the US from China to India has been driven by the sharp difference in tariffs imposed on the two countries.

 

While the US government has imposed a 20 per cent duty on smartphone imports from China, there is currently zero tariff on exports from India for three months. Even in a worst-case scenario, experts say the tariff might rise to 10 per cent, which is the base duty the US plans to apply across all items. However, India is also negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US, now in its final stages, which could further improve the situation.