Apple to assemble iPhone 17 in India in a pivot away from China: Report

About a quarter of iPhone assembly would happen in India from 2024, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in his blog on Medium

Apple is reportedly planning to start assembling the iPhone 17 in India before China, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a post on Medium, he said that the new product introduction (NPI) for the standard iPhone 17 is expected to start in India in 2024, making it the first time Apple would begin the development of a new iPhone model outside of China. Kuo stated that the standard iPhone model has been chosen because of its lower-difficulty design development, which reduces the risk.

According to Kuo, Apple is looking to strengthen its relationship with the Indian government as it would benefit future iPhone sales in the country and is critical to Apple’s growth over the next decade.

Kuo noted that the proportion of made in India iPhones would likely increase to an estimated 25 per cent of global production by 2024, which is about 14 per cent currently. Foxconn, which owns the maximum iPhone production capacity in India, is also expected to scale down production by the end of next year in Chinese plants at Zengzhou and Taiyuan by 45 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively.

Earlier this year, Apple started the production of iPhone 15 and 15 Plus in India. It allowed the American technology giant to sell an assembled-in-India iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus from day of launch. Apple has also been manufacturing iPhone 13, 14 and 14 Plus models in India as the older models drive the majority of its sales in the country.