Apple to 'source' most US iPhones from India; Trump tariffs on China to cost it $900 mn

Apple will source the majority of the iPhone sold in the US from India in the June quarter while China will produce the vast majority of the devices for other markets amid uncertainty over tax tariffs, a top official said on Friday.

During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company made quarterly records in several countries, including India.

The company, however, recorded the seventh straight quarter of sales decline in China where it produced the largest volume of iPhones.

“For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin, and Vietnam to be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods products also sold in the US. China would continue to be the country of origin for the vast majority of total product sales outside the US,” Cook said.

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According to an analysis by S&P Global, Apple’s iPhone sales in the US were 75.9 million units in 2024, with exports in March from India equivalent to 3.1 million units in March, suggesting a need to double shipments either through new capacity or redirecting shipments bound for the domestic market.

“Apple’s Indian exports already headed predominantly to the United States, which represented 81.9 per cent of phones exported by the firm in the three months to February 28, 2025. That increased to 97.6 per cent in March 2025 as a result of a 219 per cent jump in exports, likely reflecting the firm looking to preempt higher tariffs,” S&P Global Market Intelligence report said.

Cook said that Vietnam will become the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods products sold in the US.

He said that for the June quarter, most of the tariff exposure for Apple is at the rate of 20 per cent, which applies to imports to the US for products that have China as their country of origin.

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“In addition, for China, there was an additional 125 per cent tariff for imports of certain categories of products announced in April. For us, that’s some of our US Apple Care and accessories businesses and brings the total rate in China for these products to at least 145 per cent,” Cook said.

Cook said that the vast majority of Apple’s products, including iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, are currently not subject to the global reciprocal tariffs that were announced in April, as the Commerce Department has initiated a Section 232 investigation into imports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and downstream products that contain semiconductors.

“For the June quarter, as I talked about in my opening comments, we estimate the impact, assuming that the current global tariff rates, policies, and applications don’t change for the balance of the quarter to be USD 900 million to our costs. I wouldn’t want to predict the mix of production in the future, but I wanted to give you clarity for the June quarter of where the country of origins are,” Cook said.

In the second quarter ended March 29, 2025, Apple reported a 5 per cent increase in revenue to USD 95.35 billion, up from USD 90.75 billion in the same period last year, driven mainly by growth in services, Mac and iPad sales.

Apple sales were up by about 8 per cent in the Americas to USD 40.31 billion, 1.3 per cent in Europe to USD 24.45 billion, 16.54 per cent in Japan to 7.29 billion, USD 8.4 per cent in the rest of Asia Pacific Regions, including India on Y-o-Y basis during the reported quarter.

Market research firm Counterpoint Research estimates that Apple recorded its highest-ever shipment volume in India in March 2025 quarter with 29 per cent Y-o-Y growth, The company’s sales declined by 2.2 per cent in Greater China to USD 16 billion from USD 16.37 billion on Y-o-Y basis during the March 2025 quarter.

Talking about retail business, Cook said that the company has opened two Apple stores during the quarter.

“We’re also looking forward to a new retail store in the UAE, the arrival of the online store in Saudi Arabia, and new retail stores in India starting later this year,” Cook said.

iPhone sales declined by about 2 per cent to USD 46.84 billion year-over-year (Y-o-Y) from USD 45.96 billion in the March 2024 quarter.

Apple Mac sales grew by 6.6 per cent to USD 7.94 billion from USD 7.4 billion, iPad sales were up about 15 per cent to USD 6.4 billion from USD 5.55 billion, and services sales increased 11.63 per cent to USD 26.64 billion from USD 23.86 billion on Y-o-Y basis during the quarter.

Apple’s wearables, home, and accessories recorded about 5 per cent decline to USD 7.52 billion during the March 2025 quarter from USD 7.91 billion in the year-ago period.

The company in the second quarter released iOS 18.4, which brought Apple Intelligence to more languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese, as well as localised English to Singapore and India.