India now makes 25% of the world’s iPhones
India now manufactures 25% of all the iPhones sold worldwide, suggesting manufacturing capacity has increased by 53% in the last year.
It’s a milestone accomplishment as Apple speeds toward making 40-50% of iPhones there within the coming 12-24 months.
On track to make 50% of iPhones in India
Local reporting claims Apple made 55 million iPhones in India in 2025, up from 36 million in the previous year. That’s a very big chunk of the company’s annual c.220m iPhone’s made each year and it is thought that many of these India-made devices end up in the US.
Apple has been working very hard to build both its consumer-facing and device manufacturing businesses in India, beginning with the launch of an online store and visit from CEO, Tim Cook, and culminating in the creation of a major manufacturing and retail infrastructure across the nation.
The company has received a little help in this work, with the Indian government stumping up subsidies and tweaking regulation to nurture Apple’s business deployment there.
Despite these subsidies manufacturing in India remains more expensive than is the case in China.
Apple remains tightly focused on building resilience into its supply chain, reflecting its desire to sidestep political tensions and also to ensure it isn’t as exposed to supply chain mishap as it found itself during the Covid crisis everyone pretends never took place.
India business is also booming
With a fleet of six (and climbing) retail stores in India, Apple intends to launch Apple Pay there later this year as it builds business there. The company set a December quarter record in India in Q1 of its current fiscal year and set new iPhone upgrade records there.
Commenting on its India business during the most recent call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said:
“It was a terrific quarter in India. We really like what we see there. It’s the second largest smartphone market in the world and the fourth largest PC market. We still have, despite a very nice growth history, modest share there, and so we think there’s a huge opportunity for us there. We could not be more excited about it.
“The other thing that I would point out is that the majority of customers that are buying iPhone and Mac and iPad and Watch are all new to that product, and so it speaks very well to opportunity there.”
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