Apple Taps India to Build New iPhone From Ground Up, In a First
When Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China last week, he pledged to government officials that the company would continue to increase its investment in the country, where the vast majority of its products are made, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. But Apple recently reached a new milestone in its manufacturing efforts in India, which could help it one day reduce its dependence on China.
For the first time, Apple is using an Indian factory to do the early manufacturing work for the base model of next year’s iPhone 17, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The choice of an Indian factory for this stage of iPhone development—figuring out how to translate a prototype designed in Cupertino into a device that can be mass produced—highlights the progress Apple has made in diversifying its supply chain to India from China and its confidence in the capabilities of Indian engineers.