Apple is producing all four iPhone 17 models in India ahead of their debut next month, marking the first time that all new variations — including pro-level versions — will ship from India from the start, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

The move by the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation signals its longtime effort to make India the cornerstone of its iPhone manufacturing strategy and a move to gradually lessen its long-standing reliance on China for US-bound models.

Apple has broadened the number of local factories making iPhones to five, including a pair of recently opened plants, after shifting the vast majority of the device’s production for the US market to India from China in a bid to lessen the impact of tariffs.

The expansion includes the Tata group’s plant in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur and Foxconn’s production hub close to the Bengaluru airport, which have both come online recently.

In a sign of Tata’s increasing role as an Apple partner, plants controlled by the local conglomerate will account for as much as half of India’s iPhone output over the next two years, the report said quoting sources.

In tandem with Apple’s geographical shifts, the value of iPhone exports from India has climbed substantially.

In the four-month period beginning in April, $7.5 billion worth of iPhones were exported from the country. It marks an acceleration from the $17 billion worth of iPhones exported from India over FY25.

Apple and Tata representatives declined to comment, while Foxconn didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, Apple expanded iPhone production in India to fulfil the majority of US demand. That came in an effort to lessen the impact of tariffs on goods exported from China. Apple said earlier this month it expects a $1.1 billion headwind in the current period from tariffs.

The Trump administration has so far exempted electronics like the iPhone from sectoral tariffs, though they may remain subject to individual country levies.

Apple has to navigate the Trump administration’s
constantly shifting tariffs landscape, though over the longer term the company remains resolved to diversify a chunk of production away from China.

The centerpiece of Apple’s iPhone 17 strategy is a new slimmed-down model.

While Apple isn’t anticipating it to be an especially hot seller compared with its Pro models, it’s expected to sit at the core of its marketing efforts. For the first time in half a decade, Apple is meaningfully redesigning its high-end iPhones, adding a new rear-camera system with
vastly improved video recording and photo zoom capabilities.

Apple is also planning to make a new iPhone 17e in India. That phone will launch early next year, succeeding this year’s iPhone 16e. And it’s already discussing plans for iPhone 18 production in the region — with a ramp-up in early work expected in the coming weeks.

Though Trump has slapped 50 per cent tariffs on India, partly as a penalty for buying Russian oil, iPhones have so far emerged unscathed under exemptions.