Foxconn To Soon Start iPhones Shipment From New Karnataka Unit

Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn will soon kick off shipments of iPhones from its new plant in Karnataka.

An ET report said that the final checks are underway and the commercial shipment will start from June.

The report further said that an Apple executive visited Foxconn’s 300-acre facility spread across Doddaballapur and Devanahalli taluks to check the progress and preparedness of the plant for the company’s upcoming launches.

Meanwhile, an Apple executive from Cupertino also visited the iPhone maker’s other contract manufacturer in India, Tata Electronics, at its Hosur plant.

The Foxconn’s new facility in Karnataka is touted to be the second largest in the world after its China factory in Longhua. The electronic manufacturer has invested more than $1.7 Bn on its Devanahalli factory. The factory had begun its production last year.

Inc42 has reached out to Foxconn for comments. The story will be updated after receiving their responses.

The development comes at a time when on one hand the Cupertino-based company is looking to ramp up its production efforts in India and shift a part of its production from China to India due to tariff uncertainty.

While on the other hand, US president Donald Trump has expressed his concerns with Apple CEO, Tim Cook over expediting production efforts in India. According to the US president, India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world and it is very hard to sell in the country.

It was last month when Apple decided to shift its entire US import of iphones to India, and has been in the process of gradually moving parts of its supply chain out of China. Now, Apple is seeking to manufacture all iphone units sold in the US in India, which roughly comes to about 60 Mn units annually.

Reportedly, in the fiscal year of 2024-25 (FY25), 40 Mn iPhone headsets worth $22 Bn were manufactured in India and out of these, 32 Mn units were exported to the US and other overseas markets.

Currently, India enjoys 20% share of the global production of iPhones which is expected to grow to 25% in FY26.

Why Apple Is Pulling Out From China

In April, the Trump administration commenced an all out global trade war when it announced to increase the base taxes on all imported goods to US to 20% and levied an additional counter tariff on certain nations.

This included China, and in a series of retaliatory tariffs and counter tariff measures from both countries, China ended up being charged with a total tax of 145% on all goods exported to the US.

While China continued to stay in the line of fire of Trump’s tariff war measures, counter tariff measures levied on India and other countries were eased for a period of 90 days.

This triggered Apple to diversify its supply chain and reduce its reliance on China.

But bringing relief to the tariff battle between the world’s two biggest economies, earlier this week the US decided to lower the extra reciprocal tariffs to 30% from 145%, while Chinese duties on US imports will fall to 10% from 125%.

But these new tariff norms are only in place for a period of 90 days, brewing a sense of uncertainty in tech giants like Apple.