Apple supplier Foxconn has started importing components from China to India for assembling the upcoming iPhone 17, showed customs data seen by ET. The components imported so far could be meant for trial production, according to industry experts, given that their volume is a fraction of that for the older models.
Various components and sub-assemblies such as the display assembly, cover glass, mechanical housing and integrated rear camera modules began arriving in India last month, as per the customs data.
Components for the upcoming iPhone 17 mobile phone model made up about 10% of the components imported by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn — officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd — from China in June. The majority of the components were for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 16 models, which Apple is expected to sell in higher numbers in India during the festive season.
Trial production will start this month, while mass production is expected to begin in August, said the experts. The iPhone 17 is expected to be launched in September.
Apple has been planning to simultaneously make the iPhone 17 in India and China from day one, with India becoming a strategic export hub for the company, especially for its exports to the United States.
Narrowing Gap
This is owing to the high tariffs sl-apped by the Donald Trump administration on China.
Apple did not respond to queries emailed by ET.
The company ramped up iPhone exports from India to the US by 219% year-on-year in March, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Apple is planning to entirely shift its sourcing of iPhones for the US market from China to India by 2026, despite mounting pressure from the US administration to make the devices in the US itself as part of its efforts to boost manufacturing in the country.
The company has been gradually narrowing the gap between production in China and India. While the iPhone 14 assembly in India started six weeks after it began in China, the iPhone 15 was manufactured almost simultaneously in the two countries.
By 2024, India had started participating in Apple’s new product introduction (NPI) process for the base models of the iPhone 16, ending the exclusivity of China. Apple plans to continue on that trajectory with the iPhone 17, executives said.
However, following an exodus of skilled Chinese engineers from Foxconn’s India factories, amid China’s efforts to restrict technology transfer to rival manufacturing hubs including India, scaling up the iPhone 17 mass production would be a challenge, they said.
Crucial link
“Chinese engineers are crucial because iPhone 17 manufacturing involves complex precision machining of many small parts, and even a 1 mm difference can cause a product to fail quality testing. They are needed to train employees on the intricate assembly processes and specific moulds for components,” an industry executive tracking Apple’s manufacturing growth in India said on condition of anonymity.
Various components and sub-assemblies such as the display assembly, cover glass, mechanical housing and integrated rear camera modules began arriving in India last month, as per the customs data.
Components for the upcoming iPhone 17 mobile phone model made up about 10% of the components imported by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn — officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd — from China in June. The majority of the components were for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 16 models, which Apple is expected to sell in higher numbers in India during the festive season.
Trial production will start this month, while mass production is expected to begin in August, said the experts. The iPhone 17 is expected to be launched in September.
Apple has been planning to simultaneously make the iPhone 17 in India and China from day one, with India becoming a strategic export hub for the company, especially for its exports to the United States.
Narrowing Gap
This is owing to the high tariffs sl-apped by the Donald Trump administration on China.
Apple did not respond to queries emailed by ET.
The company ramped up iPhone exports from India to the US by 219% year-on-year in March, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Apple is planning to entirely shift its sourcing of iPhones for the US market from China to India by 2026, despite mounting pressure from the US administration to make the devices in the US itself as part of its efforts to boost manufacturing in the country.
The company has been gradually narrowing the gap between production in China and India. While the iPhone 14 assembly in India started six weeks after it began in China, the iPhone 15 was manufactured almost simultaneously in the two countries.
By 2024, India had started participating in Apple’s new product introduction (NPI) process for the base models of the iPhone 16, ending the exclusivity of China. Apple plans to continue on that trajectory with the iPhone 17, executives said.
However, following an exodus of skilled Chinese engineers from Foxconn’s India factories, amid China’s efforts to restrict technology transfer to rival manufacturing hubs including India, scaling up the iPhone 17 mass production would be a challenge, they said.
Crucial link
“Chinese engineers are crucial because iPhone 17 manufacturing involves complex precision machining of many small parts, and even a 1 mm difference can cause a product to fail quality testing. They are needed to train employees on the intricate assembly processes and specific moulds for components,” an industry executive tracking Apple’s manufacturing growth in India said on condition of anonymity.
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