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Apple’s major contractors are moving forward with a $1.5 billion component factory near Chennai, further expanding the supply chain of Indian iPhone manufacturers, despite Donald Trump’s demands that manufacturing be returned to the US.
Foxconn, who has been assembled Apple devices for years, plans to build a display module facility in Tamil Nadu, southern India, two government officials told the Financial Times. This factory helps Taiwanese companies supply Apple, their main customer.
The move represents the latest leaps towards India by the US tech giant, leaving China. This remains its largest manufacturing base. This shift had already begun before the Covid-19 pandemic, which hinted at industrial supply chains and encouraged US iPhone makers to diversify in other countries.
But Pivot has been entangled with China over tariffs and has become politically controversial since Trump’s reelection, which is trying to drive Apple to America to re-shore.
“We treat you really well. We’ve endured all the plants we’ve built in China for years,” the US president assaulted last week with Cupertino-based giant and its chief executive Tim Cook. “We’re not interested in Indian buildings.”
Foxconn announced on Monday a $1.5 billion investment in Indian unit Yuzhan Technology India in an application for the London Stock Exchange.
In October, the Tamil Nadu government approved an investment of Rs131.8 billion ($1.54 billion) by Yuzhan in the display module assembly unit of ESR Oragadam Industrial & Logistics Park, adjacent to the existing factory manufacturing plant in Foxconn, which manufactures iPhones near Chennai.
Officials who asked not to be identified by name due to the political and commercial sensitivity of Apple’s manufacturing shift added that $1.5 billion will be allocated to the factory and will be fed to Apple.
The iPhone’s display module is located under the glass screen and offers all screen features, including touch interface, brightness, and color.
Foxconn and Apple did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
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The Financial Times previously reported that Apple intended to source from India all IPHONEs sold in the US each year by the end of next year.
Display Unit investment near Chennai is one of the largest in India’s electronics industry and has expanded to become a major exporter with the help of billions of dollars worth of production-related incentives from the Narendra Modi government.
Officials in Tamil Nadu previously said the new display unit plant will create around 14,000 jobs. According to a study by Hong Kong-based Counterpoint, India accounted for 18% of global iPhone production in 2024. This should be 32% in 2025.
India has also become the world’s second largest smartphone market after China, measured by volume. The increase in production of Apple’s suppliers Foxconn and Tata Electronics has been the biggest success of Modi’s “Make in India” drive to create more manufacturing jobs in the world’s most populous countries.
