Apple may move a quarter of iPhone production to India by 2025 -JPM

A man holds an iPhone 14 during a sale of Apple Inc’s new model at an Apple Store in Beijing, China, Sept. 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Sept 21 (Reuters) – Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) could make one in four iPhones in India by 2025, JPMorgan analysts said on Wednesday, as the tech giant moves some production out of China, amid rising geopolitical tensions and a tough COVID- in between 19 lockdowns in the country.

The brokerage expects Apple to shift around 5% of iPhone 14 production to India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market after China, by the end of 2022.

It estimates about 25% of all Apple products, including Macs, iPads, Apple Watches and AirPods, will be made outside of China by 2025, up from 5% currently.

Cupertino, California-headquartered Apple has bet big on India since it began assembling iPhones in the country in 2017 through Wistron ( 3231.TW ) and later through Foxconn ( 2317.TW ), in line with the Indian government’s push for local manufacturing.

The pandemic has hampered supply chain transition plans for businesses, but more companies, including Apple, are accelerating these efforts this year as restrictions ease.

“Taiwanese vendors such as Hon Hai and Pegatron play an important role in shifting to India. In the medium to long term, we also expect Apple to qualify local Indian manufacturing suppliers,” according to JPMorgan analysts led by Gokul Hariharan, who rated. 4 out of 5 for estimation accuracy

A Bloomberg report earlier this month said Indian conglomerate Tata Group is in talks with Wistron to establish a joint venture to assemble iPhones in the country, amid plans to bridge Apple’s production gap with China. [nL1N30G096] Read more

Reporting by Aniruddha Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva

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