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Art by Clark MillerApple’s India Manufacturing Push Faces Spoilers, Including China
The Trump administration’s tariffs have made Apple’s efforts to diversify its manufacturing away from China more important than ever. But shifting more of that work to its next best option, India, is proving tricky.
For several years, Apple has been working hard to make more of its iPhones in India so it can reduce its dependence on China, where around 80% of its smartphones are currently made. The Chinese government and its tensions with India are getting in the way of that goal.
Earlier this year, Chinese authorities refused to allow one of Apple’s Chinese equipment suppliers to export machinery to India that Apple needed for the upcoming iPhone 17’s trial production, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. So the supplier got creative.