There’s a new battleground in the global tech war, and it’s not Silicon Valley or Shenzhen. It’s Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
Apple’s long-time manufacturing partner Foxconn is now ramping up iPhone 17 production in India, a shift once considered unthinkable. Backed by India’s PLI scheme and a government keen to dethrone China as the global factory floor, Foxconn’s India pivot is gaining real momentum. But there’s friction on all fronts. China is clawing back control by restricting key engineers and rare-earth exports.
Meanwhile, Trump has made it clear he doesn’t want iPhones made in India, threatening tariffs unless Apple brings jobs home to the U.S. So, India finds itself wedged in the middle of a U.S.-China trade tug-of-war. What’s emerging is a fascinating test: Can India go from iPhone assembler to ecosystem leader without Beijing’s blessing, and without Trump pulling the plug?
Speed, Subsidies, and Strategic Shifts
In 2025, Apple quietly began trial production of the iPhone 17 in India. Shipments of key components, displays, rear camera modules, and glass housings landed at Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu facility in June. This was no dry run. Apple aims to ship up to 30 million India-made iPhones this year, nearly tripling its output from 2023. The PLI scheme helped, but it’s not just about subsidies anymore.
India is reshaping its entire industrial architecture, rolling out 24-hour work rules, English-language software mandates for imported machines, and massive upskilling programs. Domestic champions like Dixon Technologies are also stepping up. With strategic tie-ups and vertical integration in place, India’s value in the global iPhone supply chain is now deeper than simple assembly.
But even this big leap is hedged with Chinese crutches. Most of the high-end machines still come from China. The software they run? Also Chinese. Until very recently, hundreds of Chinese engineers were embedded at Foxconn India to oversee complex assembly. Following pressure from Beijing, over 300 of them were recalled in June, forcing India to scramble for Taiwanese and U.S. replacements.
As a result, Apple’s India operation remains a “production stress test,” not yet a plug-and-play alternative to China. Add to that China’s recent rare-earth export curbs, which just disrupted Foxconn’s AirPods line in India. What looks like diversification on the surface is still deeply entangled underneath.
Trump, Tariffs, and the Tech War
Donald Trump isn’t thrilled with this shift. In May 2025, he told Apple CEO Tim Cook, “We’re not interested in you building in India. Make the iPhones in the U.S. or face tariffs.” Apple’s India expansion is seen by Trump’s camp as offshoring, plain and simple. Trump has threatened sweeping tariffs on over 150 “smaller manufacturing countries,” India included. His pitch is nationalist: bring back tech jobs, or pay for leaving.
Apple may still export India-made iPhones to the U.S. in 2026, but they could be slapped with a 10–25% tariff. That puts India’s new manufacturing gains at risk before they’ve even matured.
Still, India is betting on long-term staying power. New Delhi is revamping the PLI scheme into a Rs 22,900-crore initiative focused on deep component manufacturing. The goal: make camera modules, display modules, batteries, semiconductors, and chips here, not just “screwdriver” them in. This pivot could reduce China’s chokehold and Trump’s leverage at the same time.
If Apple wants real redundancy, it needs India to become self-sufficient, not just speed-efficient. And that’s exactly where the current policy momentum is headed. Whether it’s enough to outpace geopolitics remains to be seen, but for the first time, India’s ambitions are aligned with Apple’s interests, and that makes this a far more serious story than just “iPhones made in India.”
A Geopolitical Standoff
India’s time in the global manufacturing spotlight is coming soon. However, it isn’t time for a victory lap just yet. While we have undoubtedly built momentum with faster iPhone output, deeper local integration, and bold reforms to match China’s factory scale, the supply chain is still haunted by its origins. China continues to hold all the cards through rare-earth control, technician recalls, and machinery dominance.
Additionally, with Trump threatening to slam the brakes with a tariff wall if Apple keeps exporting from India, this isn’t a tech story anymore, it’s a geopolitical standoff between India and the two superpowers of today’s world, with Foxconn bang at the centre of it all.
For India to truly step into China’s shoes, we must do more than assemble, we must invent, innovate, and efficiently mass-produce, all while navigating between China’s economic dominance and U.S. trade storms.
In case you missed:
- DeepSeek’s AI Revolution: Creating an Entire AI Ecosystem
- India’s first Aatmanirbhar semiconductor chip is finally here!
- India’s first Aatmanirbhar Chip Fab: TATA leads the way!
- 4 New Chip Fabs and a Rallying Cry from The Red Fort!
- China’s just created an AI-powered Inspector for Nuclear Disarmament!
- Training AI for Pennies on the Dollar: Are DeepSeek’s Costs Being Undersold?
- From Sci-Fi to Fake News: The Chinese Pregnancy Robot Claim!
- China launches world’s first AI-powered underwater data centre!
- Samsung’s new Android XR Headset all set to crush Apple’s Vision Pro
- India’s First Paid Chip Prototype: Kaynes Fires the Starting Shot
