President Donald Trump and his administration wants Apple to manufacture iPhone s in the United States. "Absolutely. He believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources to do it," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday, April 8, when asked if Trump thought iPhone manufacturing could move to the US. "If Apple didn't think the United States could do it, they probably wouldn't have put up that big chunk of change," she added, referring to Apple's recently announced $500 billion US investment.
Trump doubled down on Wednesday through his Truth Social network: "This is a great time to move your company into the US, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing."
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook and iPhone maker’s founder Steve Jobs have consistently maintained that iPhone manufacturing in the US faces insurmountable obstacles.
The late Steve Jobs explained the issue to President Barack Obama as far back as 2010, according to Walter Isaacson 's biography. Jobs stated that Apple employed 700,000 factory workers in China because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. "You can't find that many in America to hire," he said.
Current CEO Tim Cook has been equally forthright. In 2017, he told Fortune that companies like Apple rely on countries such as China not for cheap labor, but for the quality and quantity of skilled workers.
"The reason is because of the skill and the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill," Cook said. "[Our] products require really advanced tooling. The precision that you have to have in tooling, and working with the materials that we do, are state-of-the-art, and the tooling skill is very deep here."
Cook added: "In the US you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I'm not sure we could fill the room. In China you could fill multiple football fields."
Price tag for US-made iPhones could reach $3,500
If iPhone manufacturing were somehow shifted to the US, consumers would face dramatic price increases. Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, told CNN that US-made iPhones could cost around $3,500 – more than triple the current ~$1,000 price tag – due to the necessity of replicating Asia's complex production ecosystem.
"You build that (supply chain) in the US with a fab in West Virginia and New Jersey. They'll be $3,500 iPhones," Ives said. He estimated it would cost Apple approximately $30 billion and three years to relocate just 10% of their supply chain to the US.
Morgan Stanley analysts projected "several billions" in costs for Apple to shift even a portion of iPhone production to the US, making domestic manufacturing financially prohibitive compared to simply paying the new tariffs.
Apple has manufacturing presence in the US, but that isn’t even a minuscule percentage of what it is doing in Asia – iPhones are being made in China and India; Macs and iPads too in China; and in Vietnam Apple produces about 90% of its wearables. Meanwhile, in the US, it only produces Mac, that too, in small numbers. Last year, it began producing A16 chips, and is also pushing for silicon manufacturing but not hardware, announcing an investment of over $500 billion, the same Leavitt was referring to, but then again it’s more of a partnership with Taiwan’s TSMC.
India, not US, is where Apple could head next
As Trump's administration imposes steep tariffs on Chinese goods – reaching at least 125% and Vietnam being hit with 46% tariffs – Apple is looking to India as a more viable alternative for iPhone production. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to increase shipments of India-made iPhones to the US to mitigate China tariff impacts.
In the weeks leading up to Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, Apple has been exporting a major chunk, about 85%, of its India produce in the months of January and February to the US. In March, Apple sent at least half a dozen, per Reuters or some also say about 10 chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tonnes of iPhones, about 1.5 million units from India to the US.
Apple also worked with Indian authorities to establish a "green corridor," at Chennai airport - a practice it also uses in the China, reducing customs clearance time from 30 hours to just six hours.
Foxconn, Apple's main supplier in India, even extended operations to include Sunday shifts at its Chennai factory, which produced 20 million iPhones last year.
India's smartphone exports jumped more than 50% in the 12 months ending March compared to the previous year, according to the country's technology minister. Apple exported more than $17 billion of iPhones from India last year, showing rapid expansion in the country.
Apple has been methodically building its Indian manufacturing presence for years, beginning with older iPhone models in 2017 and gradually expanding to include the latest versions. The Financial Times reports that Tata is now developing capacity as an Apple supplier in India, though the country still lacks the comprehensive supply chain infrastructure of China, where 169 of Apple's 187 top suppliers maintained manufacturing operations according to the company's 2023 supplier list.
Bank of America analyst notes that Apple was on pace to produce about 25 million iPhones in India this year before tariffs were announced. If Apple redirected all India-made iPhones to the US, it could meet approximately 50% of American demand this year.
With India's tariff rate set at a lower 26% rate compared to China and Vietnam , Apple would face significantly lower import costs for devices manufactured in India. And the current pause at reciprocal tariffs, which China is not part of, makes up for even a sweeter deal for Apple.
While Trump's administration promotes a vision of American iPhone factories employing millions, the reality of Apple's global supply chain – with its 387 individual iPhone components and deeply interconnected Asian manufacturing base – suggests that complete relocation to the US is going to be a tough challenge for Apple. The reason is simple math.
Trump doubled down on Wednesday through his Truth Social network: "This is a great time to move your company into the US, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing."
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook and iPhone maker’s founder Steve Jobs have consistently maintained that iPhone manufacturing in the US faces insurmountable obstacles.
The late Steve Jobs explained the issue to President Barack Obama as far back as 2010, according to Walter Isaacson 's biography. Jobs stated that Apple employed 700,000 factory workers in China because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. "You can't find that many in America to hire," he said.
Current CEO Tim Cook has been equally forthright. In 2017, he told Fortune that companies like Apple rely on countries such as China not for cheap labor, but for the quality and quantity of skilled workers.
"The reason is because of the skill and the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill," Cook said. "[Our] products require really advanced tooling. The precision that you have to have in tooling, and working with the materials that we do, are state-of-the-art, and the tooling skill is very deep here."
Cook added: "In the US you could have a meeting of tooling engineers, and I'm not sure we could fill the room. In China you could fill multiple football fields."
Price tag for US-made iPhones could reach $3,500
If iPhone manufacturing were somehow shifted to the US, consumers would face dramatic price increases. Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, told CNN that US-made iPhones could cost around $3,500 – more than triple the current ~$1,000 price tag – due to the necessity of replicating Asia's complex production ecosystem.
"You build that (supply chain) in the US with a fab in West Virginia and New Jersey. They'll be $3,500 iPhones," Ives said. He estimated it would cost Apple approximately $30 billion and three years to relocate just 10% of their supply chain to the US.
Morgan Stanley analysts projected "several billions" in costs for Apple to shift even a portion of iPhone production to the US, making domestic manufacturing financially prohibitive compared to simply paying the new tariffs.
Apple has manufacturing presence in the US, but that isn’t even a minuscule percentage of what it is doing in Asia – iPhones are being made in China and India; Macs and iPads too in China; and in Vietnam Apple produces about 90% of its wearables. Meanwhile, in the US, it only produces Mac, that too, in small numbers. Last year, it began producing A16 chips, and is also pushing for silicon manufacturing but not hardware, announcing an investment of over $500 billion, the same Leavitt was referring to, but then again it’s more of a partnership with Taiwan’s TSMC.
India, not US, is where Apple could head next
As Trump's administration imposes steep tariffs on Chinese goods – reaching at least 125% and Vietnam being hit with 46% tariffs – Apple is looking to India as a more viable alternative for iPhone production. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to increase shipments of India-made iPhones to the US to mitigate China tariff impacts.
In the weeks leading up to Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, Apple has been exporting a major chunk, about 85%, of its India produce in the months of January and February to the US. In March, Apple sent at least half a dozen, per Reuters or some also say about 10 chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tonnes of iPhones, about 1.5 million units from India to the US.
Apple also worked with Indian authorities to establish a "green corridor," at Chennai airport - a practice it also uses in the China, reducing customs clearance time from 30 hours to just six hours.
Foxconn, Apple's main supplier in India, even extended operations to include Sunday shifts at its Chennai factory, which produced 20 million iPhones last year.
India's smartphone exports jumped more than 50% in the 12 months ending March compared to the previous year, according to the country's technology minister. Apple exported more than $17 billion of iPhones from India last year, showing rapid expansion in the country.
Apple has been methodically building its Indian manufacturing presence for years, beginning with older iPhone models in 2017 and gradually expanding to include the latest versions. The Financial Times reports that Tata is now developing capacity as an Apple supplier in India, though the country still lacks the comprehensive supply chain infrastructure of China, where 169 of Apple's 187 top suppliers maintained manufacturing operations according to the company's 2023 supplier list.
Bank of America analyst notes that Apple was on pace to produce about 25 million iPhones in India this year before tariffs were announced. If Apple redirected all India-made iPhones to the US, it could meet approximately 50% of American demand this year.
With India's tariff rate set at a lower 26% rate compared to China and Vietnam , Apple would face significantly lower import costs for devices manufactured in India. And the current pause at reciprocal tariffs, which China is not part of, makes up for even a sweeter deal for Apple.
While Trump's administration promotes a vision of American iPhone factories employing millions, the reality of Apple's global supply chain – with its 387 individual iPhone components and deeply interconnected Asian manufacturing base – suggests that complete relocation to the US is going to be a tough challenge for Apple. The reason is simple math.
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