Apple's investment plans for India are intact even though US President Donald Trump has said that he asked the iPhone maker’s CEO Tim Cook to cut India manufacturing and make in America instead.
Apple makes most of its iPhones in China and does not manufacture smartphones in the US. It has three plants in India: two in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka, one operated by Foxconn and the other two by the Tata Group.
Two more Apple plants in India are in the pipeline.
Apple proposes to have a major manufacturing base for its products in India, Reuters quoted government sources as saying on Thursday hours after Trump’s assertion in Doha..
Earlier in the day, Trump said he spoke to Cook and told him that he doesn't want Apple to make its products in India and instead increase production in the US.
"We have Apple, as you know, it's coming in. And I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, Tim, you're my friend. I treated you very well. You're coming in with $500 billion. But now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India if you want to take care of India," Trump said.
He said that India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world and it is very hard to sell into India.
"They've (India) offered us a deal where basically they're willing to literally charge us no tariff. So we go from the highest tariff. You couldn't do business in India... But I said to Tim...we treated you really good. We put up with all the plants that you built in China for years. Now you got to build us. We're not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves. They're doing very well. We want you to build here. And they're going to be upping their production in the United States, Apple," Trump said.
Trump's nudge to Apple against manufacturing in India comes at a critical time when the iPhone maker is planning to expand its India production and shift its manufacturing away from China to tackle the Trump administration's tariffs move.
Cook has announced that Apple will source the majority of iPhones sold in the US from India in the June quarter while China will produce the vast majority of the devices for other markets amid uncertainty over tax tariffs.
Around 15 per cent of iPhone's global output reportedly comes from India. Foxconn, Tata Electronics and Pegatron India (majorly owned by Tata Electronics) are engaged in manufacturing iPhones.
Foxconn has also started manufacturing Apple Airpods in Telangana for export.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had in April announced that iPhones worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore were exported from India in fiscal year 2025.
The Apple ecosystem in India is estimated to have employed around 2 lakh people across various vendors in the country.