After a roller-coaster ride for four years, Apple Inc is at a crossroads in India.
The Cupertino-headquartered technology giant has seen heady growth — both in iPhone exports and domestic sales — which is projected to shift nearly 15 per cent of its iPhone production value from China to India by 2024-25 (FY25).
That is well ahead of its earlier, more cautious target of hitting 10 per cent in five years by 2025-26 (FY26), a goal it overshot in just three years (reaching 12 per cent).
But it faces serious headwinds — challenges that were non-existent just a month ago in its global strategy.
Just a few days ago, US President Donald Trump upset the applecart with the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India.
Once implemented, these tariffs would make iPhones more expensive — and more expensive for export from India to the US, the largest market for Apple’s smartphones.
This could slam the brakes on Apple’s ambitious strategy to expand iPhone exports, shift more production from China to India at a faster pace, and grow its domestic market.
Apple has been the poster child of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, launched in 2021.
It exported over ₹1 trillion in free-on-board value of iPhones in just 10 months (April–January, FY25), hitting the magic number for the first time in a single year.
With iPhone exports booming, smartphones have emerged as India’s second-largest export category between April and November FY25, based on Harmonized System (HS) codes — overtaking aviation turbine fuel and trailing only automotive diesel fuels.