A new plant making iPhones in southern India has started production and another will begin shipments in May, as Apple looks to boost manufacturing beyond its tariff-hit main manufacturing hub, China, sources said.

Apple is positioning India as an alternative manufacturing base to China as a trade war flares between Washington and Beijing, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s more than 100 per cent tariffs on China threatening supply chain disruptions and stoking fears of a rise in iPhone prices.

The Trump administration has so far spared China-made electronics from tariffs, but Washington has signalled that some levies could come in the coming weeks.

A new Tata Electronics plant in Hosur in south India’s Tamil Nadu state started operations in recent days to make older iPhone models on one assembly line, one source said.

Another $2.6 billion plant run by Taiwan’s Foxconn that is under construction in Bengaluru will also start initial operations with one assembly line within days, according to four sources, including one government official.

One source said around 300-500 iPhone units per hour can be made at the factory where, according to another, iPhone 16 and 16e models will be produced.

The plant is expected to create 50,000 jobs at full capacity when construction is fully completed, which is expected by December 2027.

Tata declined to comment, while Apple and Foxconn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China accounts for more than 75 per cent of iPhone production globally, while India contributes to about 18 per cent, research firm Counterpoint estimates.

Apple is taking urgent steps to move production of most of its US-sold iPhones to factories in India by the end of 2026, Reuters has reported.

Apple in recent weeks has stepped up production in India to beat US tariffs, shipping some 600 tonnes of iPhones worth $2 billion to the US in March, a monthly record for both Tata and Foxconn, with the latter alone accounting for smartphones worth $1.3 billion.