iPhone 17 to be assembled in India, says Kuo; Boost for Make in India initiative

The iPhone 17 will reportedly be the first iPhone developed outside of China, as Apple plans to kick off its development in India.

iPhone 17 could be developed in India, says analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. (Representative Image) (REUTERS)

In recent years, Apple has been making more and more efforts to strengthen its foothold in the Indian smartphone market. It has also tapped into the ‘Make in India' initiative by establishing manufacturing of not only older iPhones but newer models such as iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 in the country. And now, the Cupertino-based tech giant is reportedly taking another giant step towards increasing its production capacity in India by kicking the new product introduction (NPI) of the iPhone 17 in the second half of 2025. Let us take a closer look.

iPhone 17 in India

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacRumors), Apple could kick off the new product introduction of the iPhone 17 in India, making it the first time that the company will carry out the development of an iPhone outside China. For the unaware, NPI is a thorough process of a product from an ideation stage to production for the mass markets. Until now, Apple has given the responsibility of this process only to its China plants, but not anymore.

The report further states that 12-14 percent of iPhones shipped globally are made in India. The decision to assemble the iPhone 17 in India has been taken due to the “lower-difficulty design” of the smartphone that will minimize the risk during the development process.

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This move comes after Tata Group recently became the first Indian company to manufacture iPhones after acquiring the Wistrom plant near Bengaluru for approximately $125 million. This could help increase the proportion of iPhones made in India to 20-25 percent by 2024.

After this acquisition, “Apple can strengthen its relationship with the Indian government. This move will benefit future sales of iPhones and other products in India and is critical to Apple's growth over the next decade”, Kuo said.

Why this move?

In recent years, Apple has been making efforts to diversify its supply chain and shift a big chunk of its production out of China. This step is perhaps due to the strict COVID-19 restrictions in China last year which put the Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou on hold, delaying the manufacturing of the iPhone 14 Pro models, ultimately resulting in consumers facing delays during a busy holiday season.